{"id":39078,"date":"2026-02-26T16:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=39078"},"modified":"2026-02-26T16:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:43:14","slug":"congressman-krishnamoorthi-presses-usps-for-answers-on-reported-collection-box-closures-ahead-of-illinois-primary-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2026\/02\/26\/congressman-krishnamoorthi-presses-usps-for-answers-on-reported-collection-box-closures-ahead-of-illinois-primary-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Congressman Krishnamoorthi Presses USPS for Answers on Reported Collection Box Closures Ahead of Illinois Primary Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 2\/26\/26 – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has jurisdiction over the United States Postal Service (USPS), sent a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner raising serious concerns about reports that mail collection boxes across Illinois have been closed or made inaccessible in the lead-up to the March 17 primary election, potentially disrupting voters\u2019 ability to return ballots on time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI write with grave concern regarding recent reports that numerous collection boxes throughout Illinois have been closed or rendered unavailable for public use across multiple locations in Illinois in the lead-up to the upcoming primary elections on March 17th,\u201d Congressman Krishnamoorthi wrote. \u201cConstituents and local election stakeholders have indicated that boxes in several communities are locked, removed, or otherwise inaccessible, raising concerns about whether voters who rely on timely mail service to return ballots will be able to do so without disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the letter, Congressman Krishnamoorthi underscored the Postal Service\u2019s longstanding responsibility to safeguard Election Mail and maintain public confidence in mail-in voting.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor decades, the Postal Service has recognized the unique importance of Election Mail as a core public service,\u201d Congressman Krishnamoorthi wrote. \u201cReliable access to mail collection is especially critical during an election period\u2026 Many Illinois voters \u2014 including seniors, families of servicemembers, and individuals with limited transportation \u2014 depend on nearby collection boxes to ensure that mail-in ballots are transmitted quickly and securely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congressman Krishnamoorthi also warned that reduced access to mail collection infrastructure could undermine confidence in the electoral process.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny reduction in access points risks delaying the delivery of election mail and could undermine public confidence in the accessibility of the voting process,\u201d Krishnamoorthi continued. \u201cEnsuring that collection infrastructure is fully operational during this period is essential to supporting the opportunity to participate for every Illinois voter, regardless of circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the letter, Congressman Krishnamoorthi requested documents and information from USPS by March 3, 2026, and posed the following questions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    The number and locations of any boxes currently closed or removed<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    The reasons for these closures and steps being taken to restore access where needed;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Data from the most recent two federal election cycles showing on-time delivery rates for ballots in Illinois and nationwide.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Assurance that Election Mail \u2014 including ballots \u2014 will continue to receive expedited handling and delivery consistent with the standards applied during the 2022 and 2024 elections.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  5. \n

    The measures in place to ensure timely processing of election-related mail.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The full letter is available\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    WASHINGTON \u2014 2\/26\/26 – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has jurisdiction over the United States Postal Service (USPS), sent a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner raising serious concerns about reports that mail collection boxes across Illinois have been closed or made inaccessible in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39079,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39078\/revisions\/39079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}