The post office maintains a list of 21 countries that have suspended mail deliveries due to COVID-19 restrictions, and 81 that the U.S. cannot send deliveries to as a result of transportation constraints. The U.S. Postal Service uses private airline carries to ship mail overseas.
India, Pakistan, the Philippines and the Dominican Republican are among the 102 nations that are not receiving mail from the United States.
It is unclear how many military or overseas ballots, if any, were undeliverable for the May 12 elections, where 33 municipalities across ten counties voted for local offices or referendums.
Some counties maintain a database of email addresses and send ballots electronically to local residents serving in the military. New Jersey law allows military voters to return their ballots via email, and those individuals are aware that their votes may not be completely confidential.
If a county doesn’t have an email address or phone number, it may be impossible for election officials to reach the voter.
Some local officials are hoping that voters who don’t receive a ballot contact them,
The Federal Voting Assistance Program allows a backup plan for voters who don’t receive their ballots: they can download a standardized federal write-in ballot, if they have access to a printer. But since 102 countries are not delivering mail to the United States, the voter will then need to figure out a way to scan or fax their ballots to return them.
