Eyewitness News

The coastal community of Matagorda, Texas, has been without a post office since early 2019, when the lease on its original building expired. Residents have had to drive about half an hour round trip to the Wadsworth post office roughly 10 miles away to receive mail, documents, and medication, a burden some say they cannot easily afford.

After local resident Bill Gerstenberger raised the issue earlier this year, USPS said in January that a replacement facility would open within "several weeks." Ten months later, the building remained closed amid repeated delays tied to utility hookups, equipment installation, and staffing to deliver equipment. USPS has now told reporters that full operations at the Matagorda Post Office are expected to resume as early as this week, barring unforeseen issues, calling the project a "top priority." Residents remain skeptical after years of unmet promises, with some saying the delays reflect broader neglect from county, state, and federal officials toward the small community of a few hundred people.

Democratic candidates in Nassau County, New York, held a news conference in Garden City accusing the New York State Republican Party of distributing campaign mailers with false and misleading claims less than three weeks before Election Day. Hempstead Town supervisor candidate Joe Scianablo and others said the mailers were designed to divide voters.

Specific complaints included a mailer that accused Sean McCarthy, a Port Washington police commissioner and candidate, of funding an "anti-American antisemitic agenda." Assembly candidate Kim Keiserman said she received a similarly misleading mailer. Assembly candidate Dean Tarulli objected to a mailer pairing his photo with Mayor Zohran Mamdani's under the word "insane," alongside quotes he said were falsely attributed to him rather than commentator Hasan Piker.

The state GOP defended the mailers, arguing Democrats have failed to distance themselves from Mamdani and Piker's rhetoric. Democratic Party chair Jay Jacobs called the attacks guilt-by-association with no factual basis. Democrats said they sent a cease-and-desist letter, while some voters said they were simply disregarding the mailers.

Los Angeles County is scaling up ballot processing operations for the November election after criticism over how long it took to call the California Governor's race and LA Mayor's race following the June primary. County Registrar Dean Logan said the delay stems not from counting ballots but from verifying them—checking signatures and confirming voter eligibility before ballots can be tallied.

Nearly 90% of June primary voters cast ballots by mail, many returned in the final hours via drop boxes, vote centers, or the postal service; ballots postmarked by election day still count. With turnout expected to rise in November, the county plans to run processing operations around the clock for 72 to 96 hours after polls close and to release results more than once a day, up from the previous daily update. Logan acknowledged room for improvement, including possibly adding verification methods beyond signature matching, but warned some proposed reforms could slow counting further. He urged mail voters to return ballots early rather than risk postal delays close to election day.