Are post offices ready for mail voting?
Millions of ballots will begin flowing through the mail soon as mail voting begins in Pennsylvania and other states for the midterm election.
I hope the U.S. Postal Service is up to the challenge.
The inspector general for the Postal Service wanted to make sure, too. Inspectors spent time at several post offices and mail distribution centers during the primary election season to measure their performance.
The overall conclusion in an audit released last week: the Postal Service “generally” is ready to process mail ballots and other election mail, such as applications for ballots and voter registrations.
But, the inspector general said, there are reasons to be concerned.
Three of the six processing and distribution centers that were visited, including one in Philadelphia, didn’t comply with all policies for handling election mail during the primary.
“Without full compliance and implementation of policy, the Postal Service could be at risk of not processing and delivering ballots on time,” the inspector general concluded.
The Philadelphia center did not use two checklists designed to ensure election mail is moved swiftly, according to the audit.
One checklist verifies readiness to receive and process election mail. Steps including having a staging area to handle the mail; logging the arrival of mail; and verify daily that all election mail has been processed and moved on.
Another checklist notes which areas of postal facilities must be checked daily for election mail.
The Philadelphia center also did not certify it had cleared all election mail by the required deadline when the inspectors were there.
Election mail must be cleared from processing and distribution centers by 10 a.m. daily. Post offices must clear election mail twice a day, by 10 a.m. and again in the afternoon before they close.
Problems found at other processing and distribution centers included a lack of postmarks on all ballots in Cleveland and Denver.
Inspectors visited 10 post offices, including in Chester and Conshohocken near Philadelphia. Those two passed all of the tests. Others did not.
A post office in Jonesboro, Georgia, failed to certify it had cleared all election mail on time for several days. Delayed ballots were found in Cleveland and Denver.
The inspector general’s office was told the delayed ballots had arrived at the post offices late after being delayed elsewhere in the system. There were a minimal number of them, 12 in Cleveland and eight in Denver when postal inspectors were there.
The Postal Service agreed to reinforce policies for how election mail should be handled. But officials said they believed the inspector general’s report was “potentially misleading” and “overstated” some of findings.
The Postal Service said its processes were successful last year. It said it delivered ballots from elections offices to voters in an average of 2.2 days, and and delivered them from voters back to elections offices in an average of 1.4 days.
Officials said in their written response to the audit that not all mail is postmarked. It said the Postal Service has a policy to try to postmark all ballots when they are returned by voters, but that may not occur because postmarks aren’t a universal standard.
So, what should voters take from this?
What postal inspectors found during the primary must be kept in context.
They were there for brief visits. They didn’t look at how operations occurred over time. That makes it difficult to get a true picture of how prepared the Postal Service is to handle mail voting during the looming midterm election, when Pennsylvania will elect a new governor and U.S. senator.
Problems were found. While they weren’t overwhelming in my opinion, they indicate it’s possible for the system to fail.
So it’s important to be ready to vote when you receive your mail ballot, so you can return it immediately. That way, if there is a breakdown that slows delivery, there still could be time for it to get there on time.
Make sure to sign and date your ballot. Courts have ruled that unsigned ballots must be counted. But I’m not convinced that won’t be challenged again, especially during this hotly contested midterm.
If you don’t trust the mail, take your ballot to a drop box. Lehigh and Northampton counties have several. But remember, you aren’t allowed to return someone else’s ballot when you go. You can take only your ballot.
The exception is for disabled people. They can designate another person to request and/ or return their mail ballot. The designation must be done in writing, though, on a “designated agent form” returned to the county election office.
That form is available online through the Pennsylvania Department of State (vote.pa.gov/ Resources/Documents/Authorize-Designated-Agent-for-Mailin-or-Absentee-Ballot.pdf ).
Drop boxes in Lehigh County (hours are weekdays only unless noted):
Lehigh County Government Center, 17 S. Seventh St., Allentown, open every day, 24 hours
Whitehall Township municipal building, 3219 MacArthur Road, Whitehall
Lehigh County Authority lobby, 1053 Spruce Road, Lower Macungie
Fountain Hill borough building, 941 Long St., Fountain Hill
Macungie borough building, 21 Locust St., Macungie
Drop boxes in Northampton County (weekdays only):
Government Center rotunda, 669 Washington St., Easton, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Human Services Building, 2801 Emrick Blvd., Bethlehem, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Northampton County 911 Center,100 Gracedale Ave., Upper Nazareth, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Bethlehem City Hall, 10 E. Church St., Bethlehem, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.