Ballot rejections soared in rural counties after USPS reduced mail service

In early August, election workers north of Spokane, Washington, went across the street to the post office to check for late mail-in ballots. It was three days after the primary and they were expecting no more than a few dozen. Instead, their mailbox was brimming with envelopes — more than 500 of them, each a vote that wouldn’t count. The sight was…