Idaho vote by mail requires postage, does not indicate how much and a single stamp is

[brewens]

not enough. That's bullshit, but I wonder if the post office sends them through anyway? I'm going to find out.

[al_liberal]

1. Same with AL absentee ballot.

Just says extra postage required. I took it to the post office and it was $1.44, so even 2 stamps wouldn’t have been enough.

[elleng]

2. TRUE bull shit!

[brewens]

3. It should at least say how much. I kind of think they send them through because I have not

heard of anyone complaining about it. It would be a waste of money to return them. They can't just destroy them either.

[pwb]

4. Sending mail postage due delays mail for days.

Your vote will not count if held for collection of a few dimes.

[cos dem]

5. Blue Colorado does this too, and I think it's annoying.

Surely they can figure out the proper postage.
A positive upside, though. We have drop boxes, and I prefer to use them anyway. Seems more secure and reliable than DeJoy's Post Office.

[madinmaryland]

6. I always put two stamps on ballots and tax returns.

You just never know.

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. They used to do that in California but at some point that cut that shit

Out. I can certainly believe that Idaho would still do that as they want to use every goddamn trick in the book to prevent people from voting. Just how many people have stamps laying around these days?

[Shrike47]

8. Well, me. But I'm old.

I send cards to relatives ages (at this writing) 3 and 6.

[VGNonly]

9. Look at the letter

it was mailed from. Check the meter postage. Say it says .98 cents or 1.12 whatever, affix postage for that much.

[DBoon]

10. that may reflect a lower bulk rate

[brewens]

13. Good to know. Thanks. n/t

[Deuxcents]

11. No postage necessary in my county

I’m in Florida so next election, I’ll see if it changed. The whole
Point of mail in ballots is to make it easy. If ya have to go to the post office to weight the ballot for the correct postage, what’s the point of making it easy..o, wait.. 😡

[lindysalsagal]

12. These states have no integrity. No honor. They are not to be trusted.

[yellowdogintexas]

14. a cheap kitchen scale will give you the correct weight

I check anything that I'm not sure aboton the kitchen scale.

if it is 1 oz or less, it can go on 1 first class stamp. If it is higher than 1 oz, the USPS website will tell you the correct postage total.

My mail in was .85 oz this year.

[Genki Hikari]

16. Not true

REGULAR size letter mail gets the rate of 60c/oz.

Regular size = anywhere between 5"-11.5" long by 3.5"-6 1/8" high. The maximum allowed thickness is 1/4."

If your letter falls within the 1/4" thickness, and either of the other two ranges, then the USPS calls it "outsize" mail. The postage for that starts at 99c/oz.

If your mail piece is more than 1/4" thick, or bigger than BOTH of the L * W measurements for "letter" sizes, then it's what's known as a "flat," and that rate starts at $1.20/oz.

My local ballot qualified as outsized, but not a flat. So it cost $.99 to mail. In my experiences as a postal worker, most election ballots fell into this category.

So you not only have to know the weight of your mail, but also its L * W * H (Thickness).

The reason you have to pay more for outsize mail is because the letter-sorting machines can't read mail that doesn't conform to the regulation dimensions. Sometimes, the machines can't get some letter sizes through the physical mechanics involved to sort it.

Offsize mail either gets processed as flats, or, as a last resort, hand-sorting. Both are more labor-intensive and time-consuming to process compared to letter mail, hence the extra cost.

For future reference, the information about size classifications is here:

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm100/mailing-domestic.htm

And basic price info is here:

https://www.usps.com/ship/first-class-mail.htm

If you weigh your mail at home, then you can use the USPS calculator to get your exact postage:

https://postcalc.usps.com/

Side note: USPS will NOT deliver mail that you put in a collection box if it a) weighs more than 1 lb, and b) uses stamps for postage. This is unfortunately a policy they had to implement as a precaution against mail bombs being sent through them, a la the Unabomber.

For all mailings over 1 lb, I strongly recommend getting postage + label from an online postage site. Of course, one can also use the automatic postage machine at most post offices, or the old-fashioned method of taking it to the window and letting the clerks do the job they're paid for.

[urbanhermit]

15. ID Voter

I voted by mail as soon as I was able. I returned it with one stamp and looking it up, my ballot has been accepted.

[Polybius]

17. I think more of us should just vote in person

There's too much BS going on. I don't know why we became so obsessed with mail-ins the past two years. I get it during Covid but not for forever.

[LeftInTX]

18. The postage will often depend on the size of the ballot

Some ballots will have pages of propositions, but some ballots are only one page long. This is why they probably do not indicate the number of stamps. In Texas the VBM instructions are generic and come from the SOS. However, in my county, you can get ballots that are from 1 to 10 pages long in any given election. The Republican primary ballot was huge with tons of propositions, the Democrats was not. Now in this election there are some municipalities with propositions on the ballot and many without.

[Thunderbeast]

19. Oregon is FREE RETURN.

I scoffed at the change when implemented two years ago, but ANYTHING that makes doing your civic duty easier is a good idea.