USPS says mail-in ballots might not get postmark on same day they're dropped off

[RandySF]

The U.S. Postal Service has adopted a new rule that could create doubt about whether some ballots mailed by voters by Election Day will receive postmarks in time to be counted.

A USPS rule that took effect on Dec. 24 says mail might not receive a postmark on the same day the agency takes possession of it. The postal service says it isn’t changing its existing postmark practices and is merely clarifying its policy, but some election officials have looked to postmarks as a guarantee that mail ballots were cast before polls closed.

The new rule holds implications for 14 states and Washington, D.C., that count ballots arriving after Election Day if they are postmarked on or before that day — commonly called a “ballot grace period.” In these states, ballots placed in the mail by voters before the deadline may not be counted if the postal service applies a postmark after Election Day.

The USPS rule says that “the postmark date does not necessarily indicate the first day that the Postal Service had possession of the mailpiece.”


https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/usps-says-mail-ballots-might-not-get-postmark-same-day-theyre-dropped

[Ms. Toad]

1. Just walk it in to the counter and ask that it be postmarked.

Better yet, drop it off at the Board of Elections.

Not to mention that anyone dropping their ballot off on the election day and hoping it will get delivered within the grace period is not a good idea anyway.

The change is is something that people should be aware of, but it isn't an insurmountable problem - and if we take advantage of this to change messaging about how critical it is to get absentee/mail ballots in the hands of election officials well before the deadline, it might result in fewer ballots being uncounted because they arrived late.