Berks County voters beware: Mail-in ballots need extra postage
Voters using mail-in ballots in Berks County will need to pony up a little extra when they go to the mailbox to cast their votes.
The county’s postal ballots require 78 cents in postage instead of the standard 58-cent first-class stamp, the county advised this week.
That’s because the ballots are printed on two sheets of paper to accommodate the retention questions for judges, who must seek voter approval to remain on the bench at the end of their first 10-year term and every 10 years thereafter.
Mail-in ballots in other counties in the region only require a firstclass forever stamp. Northampton County picked up the tab for voters who choose to vote by mail, providing stamped envelopes with the ballots, an election official said Friday.
Berks County spokesperson Stephanie Weaver said county election officials have contacted postmasters and asked them to deliver all ballot mail regardless of the postage applied, but delivery is not guaranteed if the postage is insufficient. The county will pay postage for any ballots delivered without the required postage.
Voters are encouraged to include an additional stamp or drop their ballots off at one of the two county drop boxes at 633 Court St. in Reading or the Berks County Agricultural Center at 1238 County Welfare Road in Leesport.
Lehigh County Voter Office Chief Clerk Tim Benyo said the election code says judicial retention questions should be placed on a separate ballot in a separate column from other candidates. Lehigh County and others chose to print the retention questions on the other side of the ballot from candidates keeping the ballot to one sheet of paper.
“If you were to use a ballot marking device in our precincts, that’s what our mail-in ballots look like,” he said.
Monroe County Director of Elections Sara May-Silfee said the post office was delivering ballots there that had no postage. In 2020, the bill for ballots without postage came to about $500. Bucks County ballots also require only first-class postage, spokesperson Jim O’Malley said.