Voters, mostly Republicans, are losing trust in USPS after Trump’s assault on mail voting

President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that mail voting leads to widespread fraud are decreasing trust in the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), but mostly amongst Republicans, a new poll finds.

A majority of registered voters still trust USPS to deliver election-related materials to voters and election officials on time, but confidence has dropped significantly — from 71% in 2024 to 58% this year. The NPR/PBS News/Marist findings also reveal a stark partisan divide.

A full 70% of Republicans believe that mail voting is a source of election fraud, echoing claims long made by Trump and his allies. That finding contrasts with just 18% of Democrats and 32% of independents who share similar beliefs, according to the poll.

A majority of the total electorate, 55%, says there is little to no fraud when it comes to mail-in ballots. And recent analysis indicates they are correct.

Cases of mail voting fraud are very rare, accounting for only 0.000043% of total mail ballots cast, or about four cases out of every 10 million mail votes, according to the Brookings Institute.

The new survey comes shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court Sept. 14 blocked Trump’s attempt to reinstate mail voting restrictions ahead of the midterms. The survey was conducted Sept. 14 to 15 and polled 1,280 Americans.

The Court’s ruling means USPS will deliver election mail as originally planned, but that hasn’t stopped voters from growing more wary of voting by mail. An NBC News poll, released Monday, found fewer Democratic voters plan to vote by mail for the midterms than during the 2024 election. 

USPS has long been one of the most positively viewed government agencies and was the only agency to garner a “majority-level positive rating” for its work, according to an October 2025 Gallup poll. However, a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that recent cost-cutting efforts have led to longer delivery times, even as the agency loosened standards.

“USPS has largely failed to meet even these reduced service standards,” the GAO report stated. “USPS’s continuing poor financial condition and service performance issues indicate that its actions haven’t been effective.” 

Voters also expressed confidence in the mechanics of the election, with 75% of respondents saying they are either “very confident or confident” that their state or local government will run a fair and accurate election, an increase from 69% of voters expressing confidence in March.  

This includes 86% of Democrats expressing confidence in election mechanics, 66% of Republicans and 74% of independents, the new survey states.