The United States Postal Service’s inspector general is investigating the agency’s failure to update at least 1.8 million changes of address in a national database in August, just as many states were preparing to send out mail-in ballots for the November election.
“We are conducting a review,” Agapi Doulaveris, a spokeswoman for the inspector general’s office, said in an email to TIME, which first disclosed the data breakdown two weeks ago. She declined to provide any additional details on the scope of the inquiry or whether any findings might be made public before the Nov. 3 election.
The inquiry adds to the pressure facing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the Postal Service after a summer of damaging news. Controversial cutbacks in some mail services prompted critics to accuse DeJoy of meddling with the mail service to slow mail-in ballots and help President Trump. Several federal judges have moved to block the changes as politically motivated, and DeJoy has been forced to retreat on his plans, which he said would improve efficiency.