Rural Mail-In Ballots at Risk as Post Office Finalizes Changes to Postmark Dates

[RandySF]

The United States Postal Service (USPS) finalized a rule on postmarks to reflect changes in its mail pickup processes that could cause an uptick in blown deadlines for documents sent by post, including mail-in ballots.

The USPS proposed the rule in September to clarify that postmarks — the time stamp placed by the post office on pieces of mail, which is often used to establish the date something was sent for legal purposes — are applied at a regional processing facility, not when the USPS takes possession of the mail.

For decades, these dates were the same. But in an attempt to lower costs, USPS recently began eliminating evening mail pickups from post offices more than 50 miles away from a regional processing facility, which are mostly located in or around major cities.

Consequently, mail sent in rural areas will be postmarked and delivered at least one day later than before. And for mail voters, submitting their ballots the day or two before Election Day could mean it arrives too late to be counted — even in states that offer grace periods for tardy votes.



https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/rural-mail-in-ballots-at-risk-as-post-office-finalizes-changes-to-postmark-dates/

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Election Law Blog-"Postmark change could impact getting ballots, bills in on time"

Prof. Hasen thinks that this change will affect vote by mail ballots.

“Postmark change could impact getting ballots, bills in on time” electionlawblog.org?p=153676

— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen.bsky.social) 2026-01-01T17:25:38.079Z

https://electionlawblog.org/?p=153676

USA Today:

The U.S. Postal Service is making new changes in 2026, including adjustments to the postmark process, which could result in late fees and penalties for anyone mailing time-sensitive documents such as tax returns or bill payments.

For decades, the postmark – an official mark that shows where and when mail was accepted by the Postal Service – has been used in law as proof that an individual met a deadline, such as submitting a ballot by Election Day.

A USPS postmark used to indicate the date when mail was dropped in a mailbox or submitted at the post office counter. Now, USPS is clarifying in a new rule that the postmark will reflect the date an envelope is first processed by an automated USPS sorting machine, potentially days after it was dropped off – not the actual drop-off date….

For a long time, Americans have assumed that mail will be postmarked the day it is mailed and may not be prepared to account for the extra days.

Tax payments, charitable contributions, legal filings, rent payments and other bills or items that rely on postmark dates for deadlines can be impacted by later postmarks and risk late fees, penalties, or delinquency.

Many states also accept ballots that are postmarked by Election Day….