New Postmark Rule May Affect Ballot Counts
COMMUNITY
A New USPS Rule Affects the Legal Definition of "When Something Was Mailed"
Voting is a fundamental right of a citizen. It is the mechanism by which we express our wishes to our elected officials.
As you know, our state has all mail-in voting. What you might not realize is the significant impact recent federal legislation has on our voting process. The upcoming MI School District Educational Programs and Operations Levy will be our first election so impacted.
Before this election, your ballot was considered valid if it was received at the post office anytime on election day. That is no longer the case. The U.S. Postal Service has quietly changed its definition of a postmark. Now mail is postmarked the day it is processed, not when it’s dropped off, which will affect mail-in ballots. The new law, which went in to effect December 24th reads, “the postmark date does not inherently or necessarily align with the date on which the Postal Service first accepted possession of the mailpiece.” There could be days of delay depending on the process at the post office.
The US Postal Service is asking you to provide several days for this processing. An employee at the Mercer Island Post Office, who asked not to be named, confirmed that MI mail is typically processed on the day it is dropped off, but the postmarking takes place in Seattle and they do not guarantee that it will happen on the day of drop off. The employee also said that you can request hand cancellation at the Mercer Island office to confirm a same day post mark.
You may also deposit it in a Ballot Box any time before 8 pm on Election Day: there is only one on Mercer Island, at the Community Center.