Relying on the U.S. Postal Service to return a mail-in ballot close to Election Day now comes with an additional risk for many voters — a late postmark that gets a vote rejected.
The risk stems from mailing system changes that began last year. And those changes have pushed some election officials to encourage voters to consider returning their ballots at their local election office or any available drop boxes instead.
About a week before next month’s Election Day, USPS says it plans to roll out special postmarking procedures at post offices affected by the changes as part of its “extraordinary measures” policy to boost mail service for federal general elections.
Still, the agency continues to recommend that voters mail back ballots at least a week before their state’s deadline. And in states with a grace period for receiving late-arriving mail ballots, USPS recommends stopping by a post office to ask for a manual postmark to make sure a ballot gets postmarked on the same day it’s mailed.
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