# Risks of USPS Manipulation by the Trump Admin - 2026 and forward

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risks-of-usps-manipulation-by-the-trump-admin-2026-and-forward/1030708>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Tags:** trump\
**Created:** [June 7, 2026, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risks-of-usps-manipulation-by-the-trump-admin-2026-and-forward/1030708 "2026-06-07T02:37:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risks-of-usps-manipulation-by-the-trump-admin-2026-and-forward/1030708/41 "2026-09-15T02:38:26Z")

</div>

> [@PhillyGuy](#):
>
> Is this just on the basis of speculation that the post office would ship everything to Seattle, etc., or were there actual firm plans?

That’s actually coming from state and county elections officials.

> **[Rural, Latino, Trump voters hit hard by USPS delays as SCOTUS halts changes](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/rural-latino-trump-voters-hit-004500536.html)**
>
> (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.

> 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%).
> 
> 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.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risks-of-usps-manipulation-by-the-trump-admin-2026-and-forward/1030708.md?page=2)