Washington — Report Finds Mail Ballot Rejections Rose in Five States

The New Republic reports that rejected mail ballots rose in five states and attributes the increase to problems inside the U.S. Postal Service, according to the outlet's published headline and framing. The underlying article, not the Data Desk's own tabulation, is the source of that claim.

HTT News Data Desk reviewed the material available on this story before publication. The aggregated feed item that reached this desk carried the headline and outlet attribution but not the full body text, state-by-state figures, or percentage changes cited inside The New Republic's reporting. Readers who want the specific numbers — which states, what rejection rates, and over what time period — should consult the original story directly.

What does the report claim about rejected ballots?

The headline itself states that rejected mail ballots "skyrocketed" in five states and ties that rise to the Postal Service. That is the extent of the claim this desk can confirm was made by The New Republic from the material supplied. No percentage figures, raw ballot counts, or comparison years were included in the source material reviewed here, so none are reported in this piece. Data journalism practice calls for citing a dataset and date alongside any figure; absent those details in the available source, the Data Desk is withholding specific numbers rather than estimating them.

Why does the report tie the increase to USPS?

The New Republic's headline frames the Postal Service as the driver of the increase, which suggests the article addresses mail transit times, postmark timing, or delivery delays as factors in whether ballots arrived in time to be counted. Election officials in many states reject mail ballots that arrive after a legal deadline even if postmarked on time, a timing issue that has drawn scrutiny from both parties in past election cycles. Whether The New Republic's reporting documents specific USPS service metrics, internal postal data, or statements from postal officials is not confirmed by the material available to this desk, and no such detail is repeated here without that confirmation.

Which five states does the report name?

The source material supplied to this desk did not identify the five states by name. That is a significant gap for readers trying to determine whether their state is among those discussed, and this desk declines to guess. The original New Republic article is the authoritative source for which states are included and should be consulted for that detail.

How are rejected mail ballots typically counted?

Election administrators generally classify a mail ballot as rejected when it fails to meet statutory requirements — commonly late arrival, a missing or mismatched signature, or a missing security envelope — rather than when a voter's intended choice cannot be read. States vary in how they report these rejections, and some publish precinct-level or county-level breakdowns while others report only statewide totals. None of those administrative definitions were specified in the source material for this particular report, so this desk cannot say which categories of rejection The New Republic's figures cover.

What should readers watch for next?

Any follow-up reporting on this topic would need to specify the dataset behind the rejection figures — whether derived from state election authorities, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, or the Postal Service's own service-performance reports — along with the reporting period covered. Readers tracking this story should look for those sourcing details in follow-up coverage from The New Republic or from state election offices before drawing conclusions about the scale of the problem in their own state.

HTT News Data Desk will revisit this story if additional primary-source figures, such as state election board tabulations or Postal Service performance data, become available for independent review.

What is the Data Desk's sourcing standard for this story?

HTT News Data Desk discloses when it is working from a single aggregated source rather than full access to an outlet's reporting. In this case, the feed item supplied to this desk contained The New Republic's headline and its framing of the Postal Service as a factor in rising ballot rejections, but not the body text, methodology, or dataset the outlet relied on. Rather than repeating the headline's figures as confirmed fact, this desk is naming the gap directly: no state names, no rejection totals, and no comparison period were available for independent verification. That distinction — between an outlet's published claim and a figure this desk can attribute to a named dataset and date — is the line this report draws for readers before the original article is consulted.

Artiglio is A coming-soon iPhone chief of staff for briefings and drafts. Not on the App Store yet.