We tested the postal service to see how long your ballot will take in the mail Here's what we foun

[SheltieLover]

https://www.localmemphis.com/mobile/article/news/investigations/i-team/mail-delay-local-i-team-tests-the-postal-service-in-anticipation-of-election/522-c9a2628e-1d04-48fb-9357-74038df5d69a

We sent letters sent to and from reporters across the country to test how long absentee and mail-in ballots will take to arrive.

Author: Jeni Diprizio
Published: 6:18 PM CDT October 8, 2020
Updated: 6:18 PM CDT October 8, 2020

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With the election less than a month away, the Local I-Team decided to test the US Postal Service. It's especially important this election year with the Shelby County Election Commission expecting as many as 100,000 absentee ballots.

Voting by mail sounds simple. Fill out your ballot and drop it in the mail. But questions remain, will it arrive in time in time to be counted? Not necessarily.

To find out how long it takes, the Local I-Team decided to test the USPS exchanging letters with other reporters at our sister stations across the country. The letters were sent from as far west as Houston, east to Charlotte, in total letters were sent to and from ten cities.

Much more at link.

[Midnight Writer]

1. Postmarks will be a big problem. Lots of mail makes it through the system without postmarks.

[SheltieLover]

2. Yup

[frazzled]

5. People

should take their ballot envelopes, if possible, to the post office, and ask a clerk to hand stamp their envelope. People often do that for wedding invitations, etc.

[Midnight Writer]

9. Last I knew the handstamps have been done away with.

At least in the office I worked at. I am retired, but shortly before I left the canceling machine and all the handstamps were removed from the office. We were instructed to submit all mail to a distribution center 50 miles away to be canceled on their machines. We were instructed not to hand cancel mail, not that we could have anyway since they took the hand stamps away from us.

I operated a canceling machine for decades, and it commonly skips pieces. It runs at a very high speed, and sometimes the letters get bunched together instead of running through one at a time. A feed error. In this case, the top piece gets canceled and the bottom pieces do not.

In addition, if a piece is out of sync with the machine (again, very common) the postmark may be fragmented, with part of the postmark on one piece and the rest of it on the following piece, rendering it unreadable.

Then there is smearing, when the postmark is rubbed by another piece of mail or by a machine belt or roller before the ink is dry, again rendering the postmark unreadable.

[SheltieLover]

12. Can no longer buy postage metered tape at po?

Like the kind they put on packages?

[Midnight Writer]

14. I don't know. We used to have meter machines at the window. I assume they still do.

We could not hand out the meter strips, but we could apply it at the window.

And again, my knowledge is dated, and applies to my specific office. You could ask at the window of your local office for a hand stamp. It is ridiculous not to have them, because a lot of time sensitive material (like tax returns or legal documents) rely on legible postmarks.

I assume if your ballot arrives ahead of election day and your state starts counting before election day, then the ballot would be accepted. That seems like common sense. But if some persnickety asshole wants to use that as an excuse to spoil ballots, I guess it would be determined by state regulations.

[frazzled]

13. Not according to USPS guidelines to state and local officials

on mail-in ballots. On. Page 19 of the document linked below, it states:

Voters returning their ballots via a Postal Service retail location may ask window clerks to roundstamp/hand cancel the postage . The roundstamp contains the date that the mail is accepted at an USPS office .

https://about.usps.com/publications/pub632.pdf

[Midnight Writer]

15. I hope that is true. As I say, I am retired and my knowledge is dated and specific to my office.

I know the Postal Workers and customers were outraged by the change.

The reason for it was to consolidate the mail processing to the distribution centers, where the high speed machines can handle mail cheaper.

[bluestarone]

7. Ballots should be POSTMARKED

as soon as they hit any post office. NOT when they reach the sorting facility. (if that's what is happening i mean) Not sure if they have to wait until they get to sorting facility or not. Anybody know for sure?

[Midnight Writer]

10. Read answer #9 just above.

[bluestarone]

11. Ah TY.

Just gotta wonder how do they deal with a smudged post mark?

[frazzled]

3. The fallacy in this "study"

is found in this statement: “ the Local I-Team decided to test the USPS exchanging letters with other reporters at our sister stations across the country.”

Sending first-class letters to other states, across the country, does not mimic what happens with mail-in ballots. Voters send their ballots to local election authorities, sometimes blocks or s miles from their homes. A Memphis voter is not sending their ballot to Houston or Charlotte, where it may have to pass through several sorting facilities on the way.

[SheltieLover]

4. I agree

[frazzled]

6. Yeah, the I-Team is not too bright, apparently. /nt

[brooklynite]

8. Not a fair test

An absentee ballot comes in a unique envelope and may not be handled in the same way as a regular letter.