California rural voters urged to mail early before June primary due to USPS changes

Elections officials urge voters to mail ballots early as the June primary approaches, warning that USPS changes could cause delays. With 10 days until the election, urgency is higher for voters outside urban centers because ballot postmarking and delivery may take longer under a consolidation plan affecting regional postal processing. Changes announced in 2021 could delay mail or postmarking. A political data expert notes that state law allows counting ballots if postmarked by Election Day, but rural areas may no longer postmark ballots at local post offices, with postmarking occurring only at central sorting facilities in urban areas. Officials add county-run ballot drop boxes near affected post offices to help ensure timely collection, and warn that relying on mailbox drop timing may lead to unexpected delays.

"With 10 days until the election, officials say the urgency is greater for voters living outside urban centers, where ballot postmarking and delivery may take longer under a consolidation plan affecting regional postal processing. Announced in 2021 as part of a long-term strategic plan, the changes could lead to delays in delivery of mail or postmarking."

""The state law allows for ballots to be counted as long as they're postmarked by Election Day. But in a lot of rural areas, they're no longer postmarked at the local post office. They're only post marking once it actually gets to the central sorting facility, which is in the urban areas of the state," Mitchell said. "So voters in these areas should know that if it's within a week of the election and they haven't mailed their ballot to take it to a local drop off, take it to a vote center. But beware of mailing your ballot too late.""

""That becomes an issue for folks who are sort of hanging on to their ballot, because you might, you know, think, oh, I've dropped this off in the mailbox surely, they'll postmark it on the same day," Adona said. "Especially if they're waiting until Election Day to drop off the ballot to go inside and ask for that, that time stamp, it's called a round stamp.""

"In Marin County, officials have added election drop boxes near two affected post offices to help ensure ballots are collected on time. Unlike USPS mailboxes, county-run ballot drop boxes are handled directly by election officials."

Read at ABC7 San Francisco