Ballots are arriving in homes across the eight states that hold their elections entirely by mail: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington, as well as Washington, D.C.

Can we count on them getting there on-time and into the right hands? When they are mailed back, will they be delivered to officials in a safe and timely manner?

Election watchers and citizens are holding their collective breath as decision day nears.

Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal reports some eyebrow-raising numbers.

An audit of election mail between December 2023 and June 2024 by the United States Postal System’s inspector general found that 98.2% of it arrived on time. That might sound pretty good until you realize that means 1.8% of it did not – the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of ballots.

Then there is the issue of people filling out their ballots incorrectly or late.

Just two years ago during the midterm election, 23,393 (1.9%) of the returned ballots were rejected in Pennsylvania. In Michigan, it was 24,141 (1.4%) and 10,355 (2%) in Nevada.

In elections with wide margins, a percent here or there might not be significant – but in a close race, it could obviously be consequential.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) employs over 640,000 people, a massive government agency that strives to serve consumers and the nation’s best interest. These men and women are part of our communities. They’re dedicated and committed civil servants. With rare exception, they perform admirably and honorably.

Officially established in 1775, the USPS was a vital component of America’s founding. Benjamin Franklin had actually been appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737 and then postmaster of all 13 British colonies in 1753. After Franklin leaked letters to the colonists detailing Great Britain’s irritation and aggression towards the colonists in 1774, he was fired.

When the colonists declared their independence from the Crown in 1775, Franklin was rehired by the Continental Congress to run the fledgling country’s post office.

Benjamin Franklin wasn’t motivated to serve as postmaster for either Great Britian or America because of the pay. Compensation was quite modest. Instead, he took the job because it gave him the ability to mail his newspaper for free.

From the very beginning, the post office has wielded tremendous influence in America – first in its ability to dispense information and ideas, and now in the critical role it’s playing in our national elections.

As it has with so many other institutions, popular media has done a number on mocking our postal workers. We’ve gone from the promise of “speedy delivery” with Mr. McFeely on Mister Rogers Neighborhood to Boston postman Cliff Claven drinking at the Cheers bar to Seinfeld’s Newman refusing to deliver in the rain (“I’m not much for creeds,” he tells George Costanza after being reminded of the famed postal motto: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”).

There are valid and legitimate objections to mail-in voting in general, but it’s here and happening – and we need to lift up those who play a critical role in the process.

Image from Getty.