An audit of U.S. Postal Service performance during this year’s primary election season has found 68,000 pieces of political mail sat untouched at a Baltimore mail processing facility for five days ahead of the June 2 primary.
Baltimore was in the midst of several contentious political races at the time, including mayor, comptroller and City Council president. Numerous candidates for those offices spent thousands of dollars on campaign mailers in an attempt to sway voters in the close election.
Ballots destined for those voters were also in the mail stream during the window when the political mail sat at the facility, but the audit specifically stated the delayed pieces were not ballots.