With mounting fears that postal delays could result in some votes going uncounted, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has advised voters to take their ballots in-person to clerks' offices rather than mailing them. | stock photo
With mounting fears that postal delays could result in some votes going uncounted, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has advised voters to take their ballots in-person to clerks' offices rather than mailing them. | stock photo
An audit from within the U.S. Postal Service has revealed that delivery delays could potentially result in some voters not receiving their mail-in ballots until after the election, and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office has recommended voters go in person to receive or turn in mail-in ballots.
Barb Byrum, the Ingham County clerk, recently told Bridge Michigan that even sending out death certificates to recipients within a 15-mile radius has been delayed up to three weeks with the current slowdown in mail delivery.
In Wisconsin, an internal audit by the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General showed that delays resulted in hundreds of ballots never being delivered during the April primary there.
An alternative to mailing in your absentee ballot is to hand-deliver it to your county clerk.
| Pixabay
“If it’s grandma’s medication now, it’s likely going to be ballots later,” Byrum told Bridge Michigan. “It’s extraordinarily concerning when we’re coming into election season when any mail slows down.”
Elections and postal officials have made assurances that election-related mail will be expedited. But since ballots received after election day aren't counted in Michigan -- regardless of when they are postmarked -- others worry whether the postal system will be able to deliver when it comes to the election.
A week prior to the Aug. 4 primary, over 903,000 ballots had been returned of the 2 million requested, according to Bridge Michigan. Both numbers are substantial increases over the 307,000 returned a week prior to the 2016 primary and the 540,000 requested that year.
Yet the return rate on ballots also shows a much lower percentage received to be counted in the election than in prior years.
With the potential for delays, Benson recently encouraged voters to take their ballots in person to their county clerk's office, rather than mailing them in. A release from Benson's office also recommended that voters who had not requested a mail-in ballot well before the election should go in person to the clerk's office to be handed a ballot, rather than requesting one by mail.
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