Postal Service tells NC voters to request and mail ballots earlier to ensure delivery
North Carolina election officials are encouraging voters to request and cast their absentee by-mail ballots sooner as a result of potential United States Postal Service delays.
The Postal Service, in a letter to North Carolina’s Secretary of State Elaine Marshall received Friday, said that “under our reading of North Carolina’s election laws, certain deadlines for requesting and casting mail-in ballots are incongruous with the Postal Service’s delivery standards.”
The state deadline to request a ballot is 5 p.m. on Oct. 27, but state election officials and the Postal Service indicate that date might be too late. Election Day is Nov. 3.
North Carolina voters can request an absentee by-mail ballot now. County election boards will begin mailing ballots to voters who have requested one on Sept. 4.
“We’re encouraging folks to put it in the mail at least a week before Election Day,” said Patrick Gannon, spokesman for the state board of elections.
The letter was signed by Thomas Marshall, the general counsel and executive vice president of the USPS. North Carolina businessman and big-dollar Republican donor Louis DeJoy is the new Postmaster General.
The Washington Post reports 46 states and Washington, D.C., have received similar letters.
Several states are only voting by mail in November’s election and mailing ballots to all registered voters, a practice that is different from North Carolina’s absentee by-mail system, which requires voters to request a ballot.
Surge in absentee by-mail ballots expected
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, North Carolina is expecting a large uptick in absentee by-mail ballots. All registered voters in North Carolina can vote absentee by mail.
About 200,000 voters cast an absentee by-mail ballot in the 2016 presidential election in North Carolina.
Already, more than 209,000 requests for absentee by-mail ballots have been made for the 2020 election, according to Catawba College professor Michael Bitzer’s near-daily tracking.
Voters can also drop off their completed absentee by-mail ballot at any one-stop early voting location in their county during voting hours or at their county board of election office.
Even if voters have requested an absentee by-mail ballot, they are still allowed to vote at a one-stop early voting location or on Election Day. But they are not allowed to submit their absentee by-mail ballot and vote in another manner.
Absentee by-mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received at their county board of elections by the Friday after the election will be counted.
The Postal Service writes in its letter that it “strongly recommends” that voters request their ballots 15 days before Election Day “at a minimum.” The Postal Service recommends voters “mail their completed ballots at least one week before the state’s due date.”
“We remain committed to sustaining the mail as a secure, efficient and effective means to allow citizens to participate in the electoral process,” Marshall wrote.
Political fight
The Postal Service has become political fodder in recent months, due to President Donald Trump’s appointment of DeJoy and slowdowns in mail delivery that some see as a result of Trump’s anger at universal mail-in balloting.
DeJoy has made several changes to the post office, including eliminating overtime for many workers.
Trump is opposed to $25 billion in funding for the Postal Service, a figure that is supported by the USPS’s Board of Governors and was included in the Democratic-controlled House’s latest coronavirus package. Trump tied his opposition to universal mail-in balloting.
Nearly one-quarter of North Carolina voters plan to cast their vote by mail this year, according to a new poll from the Civitas Institute. By contrast, just 4% of ballots in the 2016 presidential election in North Carolina were cast by mail.
“This is an important part of how Americans intend to vote this fall — not Democrats, not Republicans, all Americans,” said Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham in a media event Thursday. “It’s unconscionable that the U.S. Postal Service would be hijacked for political purposes. And right now I’ve got a lot of questions about whether that’s what’s happening.”
Cunningham is running against incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican.
“Senator Tillis is confident in North Carolina’s strong absentee ballot program, is encouraging North Carolinians to vote absentee and believes we will have a fair election,” Tillis’ campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo said.
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This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 1:55 PM.
