There has been much discussion/litigation about the post office and election ballots of late. And, changes in postmark practices mean that the mailing date on untracked mail is no longer accurate. But, something more fundamental with mail delivery needs to be reckoned with.
Here is the tracking information for a recent letter a person from Indianapolis sent to me here in Madison Wisconsin.
August 27, 2026
Out for Delivery. Expected Delivery Between 9:30am and 1:30pm.
MADISON, WI 53705
August 27, 2026
5:12am
Arrived at Post Office.
MADISON, WI 53705
August 25, 2026
6:15 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility,
OAK CREEK WI DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 25, 2026
5:37 pm
In Transit to Next Facility,
August 25, 2026
4:03 pm
In Transit to Next Facility,
August 25, 2026
3:11 pm
Departed USPS Regional Facility,
MADISON WI DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 25, 2026
11:53 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility,
MADISON WI DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 25, 2026
11:47 am
In Transit to Next Facility,
August 25, 2026
10:18 am
Departed USPS Facility,
MILWAUKEE, WI 53203
August 25, 2026
10:11 am
In Transit to Next Facility,
August 25, 2026
9:47 am
Arrived at USPS Facility,
MILWAUKEE, WI 53203
August 25, 2026
5:32 am
In Transit to Next Facility,
August 25, 2026
3:54 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility,
INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 24, 2026
In Transit to Next Facility,
August 23, 2026
6:53 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility,
INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 22, 2026
5:37 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility,
OAK CREEK WI DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 22, 2026
5:18 pm
In Transit to Next Facility,
August 22, 2026
5:04 pm
Departed USPS Facility,
MILWAUKEE, WI 53203
August 22, 2026
4:56 pm
Arrived at USPS Facility,
MILWAUKEE, WI 53203
August 22, 2026
4:06 pm
In Transit to Next Facility,
August 22, 2026
3:26 pm
Departed USPS Regional Facility,
MADISON WI DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 22, 2026
10:46 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility,
MADISON WI DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 22, 2026
9:15 am
Departed USPS Facility,
MILWAUKEE, WI 53203
August 22, 2026
8:33 am
Arrived at USPS Facility,
MILWAUKEE, WI 53203
August 22, 2026
4:12 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility,
INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 21, 2026
8:40 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility,
INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 21, 2026
7:58 pm
Departed Post Office,
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46206
August 21, 2026
3:22 pm
USPS picked up item,
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46206
From August 21st to August 22nd, the letter goes from Indianapolis to Milwaukee to Madison.
Then, from August 22nd to August 23rd, the letter goes from Madison to Milwaukee to Oak Creek and back to Indianapolis, where it remains for pretty much the entire day of the 23rd. For August 24th, the letter is somehow “in transit” for all that day without ever leaving Indianapolis.
On August 25th, the letter moves from Indianapolis to Milwaukee and then Madison and then Oak Creek, all in one day.
Then nothing happens on August 26th. But, on August 27th, the letter “appears” in Madison and is now out for delivery.
What is going on here? This letter has crisscrossed Wisconsin multiple times and even returned to Indianapolis from where it came, only to suddenly be teleported to Madison for delivery after last being in Oak Creek.
There is something fundamentally wrong when a letter is moving back and forth multiple times through the same post office facilities and even returning to the city from which it was mailed.
It does not take a supreme court justice or even a postal inspector to know that mail delivery is way out of whack.