Postal service warns (46) states it might miss some mail-in ballot deadlines

Source: The Hill | August 14, 2020 | Max Greenwood

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has warned state election officials of “inconsistencies” between its delivery service and state deadlines for receiving and counting mail-in ballots, raising the possibility that many votes may not arrive in time to be counted.

The warnings were delivered in letters to state election officials by USPS general counsel and executive vice president Thomas Marshall.

“The letters advised election officials to be mindful of the potential inconsistencies between the Postal Service’s delivery standards, which have been in place for a number of years and have not changed, and the provisions of state law,” Martha Johnson, a spokesperson for the Postal Service, said in a statement.

“The purpose of the letters was to assist states in educating their voters on when to request their ballots and to return their completed ballots in accordance with the Postal Service’s mailing standards.”

In letters to 40 states, the Postal Service warned that state deadlines to request, return and count ballots may clash with the realities of mail delivery at a time when USPS is already facing financial troubles, delivery delays and an expected influx of election-related mail, The Washington Post reported Friday, after obtaining the documents through a records request.

Among those states were critical electoral battlegrounds such as Florida and Michigan, according to the Post’s reporting.

Six other states and D.C. were reportedly told that the possible delays could impact smaller subsets of voters.

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The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Thursday that Pennsylvania officials received a letter on July 29 warning that “certain deadlines for requesting and casting mail-in ballots are incongruous with the Postal Service’s delivery standards” and could result in “a risk that ballots requested near the deadline under state law will not be returned by mail in time to be counted under your laws as we understand them.”

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