Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, both Democrats, teamed up Wednesday to announce that significantly more mail-in ballots were disqualified as “late” in the August primary election than in prior elections.
That uptick, they said, was a result of changes to U.S. Postal Service postmarking protocols the agency implemented last December.
Across the state, the rate of ballots that were rejected for late postmarks increased by 32% in the August primary, as compared to the August 2024 primary, according to data released by Hobbs and Cantwell’s offices. Rates of rejection were higher in rural counties, per the report.
“The post office is taking your ballot as a piece of mail but not stamping it that day,” Cantwell said. “They are waiting and going to a distribution center, and then later postmarking that and may thereby be delaying your actual vote.”
Cantwell advised voters to mail their ballots as early as possible, or use county-provided drop boxes for the upcoming November election. Voters who mail their ballots even several days in advance of Election Day may experience delays in postmarking and risk a ballot being disqualified, according to the report.
5 Comments
CorrectAlias@piefed.blahaj.zone · 11 pts · 1d
This isn't to blame the people using the postal service to mail back ballots, they totally should be allowed to do so. I feel for those with disabilities that are not able to use drop boxes.
However, I haven't had any trust in the postal service since Trump 1.0, and wouldn't ever personally risk returning my ballot through them. People who are able should always, always use the drop boxes. In addition to that, if your ballot doesn't arrive on schedule, print it at home through VoteWA. It invalidates your mail ballot and you'll be able to put it into a local drop box.
velma@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 1d
Definitely use the drop boxes this year!! I've used USPS in the past for my ballots and did it early enough to track it through. I wouldn't trust it this year at all.
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 1d
Has the USPS made this fact clear to their customers? Because I feel like this could otherwise easily be argued as mail tampering, which is a very serious federal crime. Not that anyone in particular is actually prosecuting federal crimes, these days.
mrcleanup@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1d
As part of the public comment when they started implementing all this, the post office responded.. The postmark is not a service, you have all been using it wrong, our strategy is that we need to teach you better so you stop relying on postmark dates because the delay will continue to grow.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 23h
Drop boxes are the next best thing to in person voting (which I know Washington minimizes). Take the time to make sure the compromised USPS doesn't touch it if you can.