Politics
Rural, Latino, Trump voters hit hard by USPS delays as SCOTUS halts changes
The Center Square More than 20,000 ballots were rejected in Washington
By Sydney Jackson · 2026-09-15T01:35:29.509Z
The Center Square More than 20,000 ballots were rejected in Washington's August primary after U.S. Postal Service policy changes, with rural and Latino heavy counties taking the biggest hit.
However, additional expected modifications to the USPS system were dealt a major blow Monday evening, with the Supreme Court blocking https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a305.html proposed changes from going into effect for the fall midterm election.
The halt comes as Washington dealt with thousands more uncounted ballots than previous years, with the cause of those delays still unresolved.
Statewide, late postmark rejections rose 32% https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/snapshot report increases in late postmarking disenfranchised wa voters.pdf this August compared with the 2024 primary, according to Secretary of State data. In 19 of Washington's 39 counties, the late postmark rejection rate more than doubled year over year, and in two counties https://myedmondsnews.com/2026/09/cast but never counted cantwell hobbs highlight ballot rejection rates following august 2026 primary/ it more than quadrupled.
Mason County saw the biggest jump: compared with the 2024 primary, the late postmark rejection rate rose 329.7%. That’s followed by Stevens County 303.7% , Yakima County 268.5% , Okanogan County 263.5% and Franklin County 206% .
The chairs of each of these five counties’ Republican parties did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment Monday.
These counties share a common thread: they're rural, backed Trump in 2024, and several have sizable Latino or Native American populations that are already more vulnerable https://www.brennancenter.org/our work/research reports/voting tribal lands to mail service gaps. Hispanic residents make up 52.4% https://www.washington demographics.com/yakima county demographics of the population In Yakima County and 21% in Okanogan County per Census Bureau estimates. Okanogan County includes portions of the Colville Reservation and has an American Indian population of 8.3% https://www.washington demographics.com/okanogan county demographics .
The ballot rejections come after new federal rules and cost cutting initiatives consolidated USPS mail processing into regional hubs. Under the change, mail from post offices more than 50 miles from a distribution center is now trucked to that hub once a day instead of twice, meaning ballots can sit for a day or more before they're postmarked.
In a field test, Snohomish County officials discovered that Priority Mail clearly marked as ballots could take as long as 20 days https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/snapshot report increases in late postmarking disenfranchised wa voters.pdf to arrive.
For Hayward Evans, president of Seattle King County NAACP, this along with more high profile USPS changes https://www.congress.gov/crs product/IF13297 ordered by President Trump in March reflect decades old tactics used to keep women and Black Americans from voting.
“States erected barriers: poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, violence and other measures designed to keep Black citizens from the ballot,” Evans said at a press conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVd PAeFsm8 last week with U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell D Wash. and Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. “History teaches us that progress is not permanent unless we protect it.”
In a March 31 executive order, President Trump directed states to submit lists of mail voters and also reject ballots tied to non compliant envelope designs or unlisted voters. USPS published a final version of that rule Aug. 26 https://www.congress.gov/crs product/IF13297 , but it remains blocked for the November election: a federal judge in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction last week after a coalition of 25 states, including Washington https://www.sos.wa.gov/about office/news/2026/washington joins lawsuit halt usps ballot mail rule ahead midterms , sued.
The Trump administration had defended the rule as a narrow, fraud prevention measure rather than a broader restriction on mail voting.
Solicitor General John Sauer told the courts the USPS's envelope design and voter list requirements are modest and would not involve verifying voter eligibility or blocking ballots from voters left off state submitted lists, arguing the added scrutiny helps guard against mail fraud.
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis has called the changes commonsense measures to protect the security of mail in ballots.
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to lift the injunction, over dissents from Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.
In a brief, unsigned order, the court found the administration was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge, leaving the rule blocked for the midterms.
The ruling came a day after a second judge — Trump appointed U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, in a parallel case in Washington, D.C. — issued his own injunction against the rule, finding no statute gives USPS the authority to enforce its key provisions.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown released a statement https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news releases/ag brown statement scotus order blocking usps s unlawful attack vote mail after the ruling.
“Today’s ruling is a huge win for orderly elections this November," Brown's statement said.
“State and local elections officials can now focus on what they do best—administering legitimate elections that count every eligible ballot cast. Our office will remain vigilant around any other attempts by this administration to meddle in the current election while we continue the longer court fight against the administration’s illegal attack on mail in voting.”
Uncounted votes
The recent pattern of late postmark rejections wasn't limited to Republican leaning areas. Clallam County https://www.newsweek.com/washington map rise rejected mail ballots trump harris counties 12420797 , which backed Kamala Harris, saw rejections rise 199%, and Whitman and Snohomish counties, also Harris counties, saw increases of 133.2% and 66.9%, respectively.
The rate increases tell one story, but the raw vote totals https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HJ7uABxTRzYdPc98ZA63eGgsIkHuijiKZyQM3vzhbU8/edit?gid=409020510 gid=409020510 tell another. Since Yakima County is far more populous than counties like Mason or Stevens, its jump — from 524 late postmark rejections in 2024 to 1,750 in 2026 — is the single largest increase in ballots kept from counting anywhere in the state.
Statewide, 20,267 ballots were rejected for late postmarks in the 2026 primary, up from 16,131 in 2024, creating a net increase of 4,136 rejected ballots even as about 100,000 fewer ballots were cast overall.
Nineteen of the 20 counties with the largest percentage increases are smaller, more rural counties outside the Puget Sound corridor — the exception being Snohomish, which had the second largest number of rejected ballots behind Yakima. By contrast, 10 counties saw rejection rates decline from 2024 to 2026, most among the state's larger, more metropolitan counties: King, Pierce, Clark, Spokane, Thurston, Cowlitz, Jefferson, Lincoln, Columbia and Skamania.
A statewide map https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiZjU0OTRiZTMtNWFhNC00NDczLTk1NWUtOWJlNjg5ZWQ4MWRkIiwidCI6ImUwMmRhYmUyLWMyY2ItNGU3YS1hMzcxLTYzZWQxZmViNjVhMCJ9 from the Washington Secretary of State’s office breaks down the number of rejections by county, and the reason.
Washington voters will still receive their ballots by mail for the Nov. 3 general election following the Supreme Court's Monday ruling on the broader USPS rule.
But the separate postmarking and transportation changes that officials blame for the primary's rejection rate spike aren't part of that litigation and remain in place.
Cantwell has called for Senate hearings on the postmarking issue and is urging voters, especially in rural areas, to use official ballot drop boxes or mail ballots as early as possible.
The League of Women Voters of Washington suggests mailing one week out, and to sign up for the state’s ballot tracker https://voter.votewa.gov/portal2023/login.aspx .
This story originally appeared on thecentersquare.com https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article 089c552a 56a5 4200 aaab 28f1b8d2eb8c.html .