Are You Worried About Mailing Your Mail-In Ballot? You Don’t Have To.
Here’s a safe way to get your ballot where it needs to go well before Election Day.
By Amit Thakkar | LawMaker, Founder & CEO | Sept 8, 2020
[This article was first posted at LawMaker. Click here to read the original article which also includes state-by-state rules and links for mail-in applications, voting deadlines, and other state-specific voter resources.]
Recent revelations about the goings-on at the United State Postal Service have shaken the nation and have had a definite impact on the upcoming election. So much so that President Trump recently seemed to encourage his supporters in North Carolina to vote twice, once by mail and once in person, in a haphazard and illegal attempt, to “test” voting security.
Yes, US democracy has really become this strange…
After it became public last month that newly appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy caused substantial delays in mail delivery because of his changes to USPS leadership, elimination of overtime, removal of mail sorting machines, reduction of public post boxes, and changes to postal delivery protocol, many Americans have rightfully started to worry about how to vote in the 2020 election.
Worse yet, last week an investigation by the USPS’ inspector general reported a tangible decrease in on-time delivery of election and political mail since 2018.
Why is this all so important?
See, you may not have heard, but we’re in the middle of a pretty bad pandemic. Gathering in long lines, often indoors, touching the same buttons and machines as many others, and generally congregating for long periods of time, are currently frowned upon by the medical community. And yet these are all likely outcomes of voting in person on Election Day. So, many Americans have expressed the desire to vote by mail.
Yet, these changes at USPS have many worried that their ballot won’t be delivered in time to be counted.
Well, you may be surprised to learn that you don’t actually have to mail your mail-in or absentee ballot. I’ll explain.
HAVE YOU REQUESTED YOUR MAIL-IN A BALLOT YET?
For this article to have any use, you actually have to have requested a mail-in or absentee ballot. If you haven’t, these websites make requesting your absentee or mail-in ballot easy:
VOTE SAVE AMERICA: https://votesaveamerica.com/everylastvote/#text-block-wysiwyg
or
THE US VOTE FOUNDATION: https://www.usvotefoundation.org/vote/VoterInformation.htm
Are mail-in ballots secure? Yes. Check out PolitiFact’s deep dive on the security of mail-in and absentee ballots.
CAN I REQUEST MY MAIL-IN BALLOT NEXT WEEK?
NO! I mean, yes, technically you can, but I wouldn’t wait if I were you.
This election, experts are expecting a huge uptick in the number of requests for mail-in ballots.
While the USPS has stated its confidence that it can meet demand, it has simultaneously said that it could take more than 14 days for you to receive and return your request forms and ballots (which seems to be a bit contradictory).
So the earlier you request your mail-in ballot, the more time that election offices have to prepare and make sure that everyone who wants to vote by mail will be able.
So do yourself a favor, go to the links above and request your absentee or mail-in ballots now.
NOW WHAT? DROP OFF YOUR BALLOT BEFORE THE ELECTION!
At least 39 states have some form of early voting, which means voters can go in days or weeks before Election Day to avoid major lines, and vote in person.
BUT, few people know that in these states you can also use the early voting polling locations to jump the lines altogether, and DROP OFF your mail-in ballot well before Election Day.
Yep. No need to wait in line to vote in a booth. Go in with your ballot, find the secure drop box, and drop off your mail-in ballot. Quick and easy. And now your ballot is where it’s supposed to be with no anxiety about postal delays.
How do I know if my state has early voting?
Visit one of the links below — and please, keep in mind that your state’s rules and voting dates may have recently changed due to the pandemic:
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURE: https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/early-voting-in-state-elections.aspx#Early%20Voting%20Law%20Table
or
VOTE.ORG: https://www.vote.org/early-voting-calendar/
Slate just published a great rundown about the easiest ways to vote in each state in the US — here’s a hint, dropping off your ballot when early voting is an option is one of your top choices.
WHAT IF MY STATE DOESN’T HAVE EARLY VOTING?
Never fear, you still can likely avoid a long wait on Election Day. If you have completed, signed, and sealed your mail-in or absentee ballot, you can go to your polling station on November 3, skip the lines for in-person voting, and drop off your ballot. No waiting in long lines, no worry about Covid from prolonged exposure to a crowd. Put your ballot in the secure voting box at your polling place on Election Day, and you are done!
This is an easy way to vote without having to worry about your health or delays at USPS. However, if you can’t or don’t want to vote early or vote by mail, I just ask that you go and vote. Elections are important, and voting is both a right and a responsibility no matter how hard our states make it.
