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An NPR PBS News Marist poll found a 13 percentage point drop in voters who expect mail ballots to be delivered on time over the past two years.

Posted by The NPR Politics Podcast, Checked

Polygraph verdictTrue
Sources
2 support2 context
Said
1 time·
Confidence
90%
The NPR Politics PodcastSep 29, 2026
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The NPR/PBS News/Marist poll reported that the share of registered voters confident USPS will deliver election mail on time fell 13 percentage points over two years, from 71% in 2024 to 58% in 2026, as the claim states.

What was said

… Mail voting rules are the same as they were previously, but that does not mean that people are feeling warm and fuzzy about using the mail to vote at this point. You know, another data point that we found in our NPR PBS News Maris poll recently was a 13 percentage point drop in voters who expect mail ballots to be delivered on time over just the past two years, and so, you know, we've seen the courts step in and block this rule by the Trump administration, and yet people are still showing real concern over how, uh, USPS is going to work this cycle. …
The NPR Politics Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. NPR's September 23, 2026 report on the NPR/PBS News/Marist poll states that confidence in USPS on-time delivery of election mail dropped 13 percentage points over the past two years, from 71% in 2024 to 58% this year.[1]

Supports. PBS News reported the same poll finding, with 58% of voters confident USPS will deliver election mail on time this year, down 13 points since 2024.[2]

Supports. The poll was conducted September 14 to 15, 2026 among 1,280 registered voters, with a 3.8-point margin of error, which matches the claim's attribution to the NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.[1][2]

Context. Other coverage (the Alliance Report and a syndicated NPR story) repeats the same 13-point figure, but these trace back to the NPR poll report rather than adding independent verification.[3][4]

Sources

4 sources: 2 tier 2, 2 not rated

  1. 1Poll: Trust in the U.S. Postal Service delivering mail-in ballots on time has fallennpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
  2. 2How Trump's mail voting claims are affecting voters | PBS Newspbs.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
  3. 3Alliance Report, Sept. 30, 2026, 26-20nonprofitmailers.org · not rated · cited for: context
  4. 4Americans are confused and worried about elections. Will that impact turnout?wvxu.org · not rated · cited for: context

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