Closure of mail processing centers means mail could take days longer in some locations
by Brian Leubitz
In case you haven’t watched the dramatic saga that is the US Postal Service, well you should check in on that. There is the sensational story of the members of Congress that are super excited that their union employees will be laid off, and are fighting the pension overpayment issue. But, for electoral purposes, this message from SoS Debra Bowen is important:
Unfortunately, a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) plan to shut down 223 big mail processing hubs across the country and 14 here in California – including the one located in Redding – threatens to disenfranchise millions of Californians who vote by mail. … By law, late ballots can’t be counted; postmarks aren’t enough.
The USPS asserts the closures won’t affect your ballot, but its future best hopes do not coincide with the current reality voters and elections officials have already witnessed in California. When mail facilities closed last year in Monterey, Ventura, and Yuba counties, officials conducting small local elections there reported mail that used to take one to three days to deliver was instead taking five to seven days. (Redding.com)
Many voters use the last weekend to vote their ballots. If the closures go ahead, there is a strong chance that these voters will be disenfranchised. No matter which side of the political spectrum on which you reside, this is seriously troubling. The post office, Congress, and the State need to find a way to ensure that voters aren’t losing their votes because the post office is having some money issues.
For anybody who is interested in this issue, the Assembly Elections & Redistricting Committee (Assemblymember Paul Fong, Chair) and the Senate Elections & Constitutional Amendments Committee (Senator Lou Correa, Chair) are holding a joint oversight hearing on this subject tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 PM in Room 2040 of the State Capitol. Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Congressman John Garamendi, and elections officials from five counties will be testifying about the impacts that Postal Service closures will have on elections in California, and about the steps they are taking to minimize any negative impacts on voters.
For anyone who is unable to attend the hearing in person, live-streaming audio of the hearing should be available here:
mms://192.234.214.75/SEN-2040.
Ethan Jones
Assembly Elections & Redistricting Committee Staff
it seems to me that since that is a federal issue out of our hands, the easiest legislative fix might just be to accept all ballots postmarked by election day, as is done in washington state IIRC. sure, people won’t have their instant election results, but making sure voters aren’t disenfranchised trumps the political media’s desire for instant results for their churn.
I vote in San Mateo County and make it a point to drop off my ballot at the Election Office — I know not everyone can do that, but if you can, you know it is delivered on time.
if they are postmarked by a certain date. California really needs this changed.
There is just no magic to requiring that an absentee ballot be received by election day. Assume a voter mails the ballot five days early. Why should it not count if received the day after the election through no fault of the voter? Other states allow this. I recognize that there should be some cut-off; but election day itself is ridiculous and undermines voter participation.
While I’m ranting about this, let me add that a voter should be able to learn if his or her ballot was not received in time. God knows, I have mailed my ballot every election for over a dozen years and for all I know, they were received late or the signatures were challenged. Or if not, they will be the first time it would make a difference to the outcome.