Always Request a Real Postmark for Your Absentee Ballot

Image by Samandale and courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Several Ohio voters learned a hard lesson this past election: always request a real postmark when you mail in your absentee ballot. The Columbus Dispatch has more:

"Yet, at the same time, the national policy of the Postal Service states that not every piece of mail gets the kind of traditional postmark required by Ohio law, meaning the problem in Summit County is really a statewide problem. The Postal Service considers a piece of mail with a printed postal label or a metered piece of mail to already have a postmark.

And, as was the case with some of the absentee ballots in Summit County, there is no guarantee that every piece of mail with a regular stamp will get a sprayed-on ink postmark, either."

Are postmarks an issue in NC, too? One division of the NC State Board of Elections seems to think so. The Campaign Finance division has the following warning for campaign treasurers on their "Reporting Schedules" page:

"The Treasurer is responsible for ensuring evidence of the mailing date for reports. Metered postage does not prove timely filing because a meter may be set to any date. A postmark is evidence of timely mailing, but you must request the post office to place a legible postmark on your envelope; the process is no longer automatic. Many of the letters we receive bear no postmark or illegible postmarks. Treasurers are well advised to send reports through registered or certified mail."

This problem is not mentioned on the "Absentee Voting by Mail" page of the NC State Board of Elections web site, or on their Voter ID information site; nor is it mentioned in their otherwise helpful pamphlet (dated 2014) "Absentee Voting Quick Guide," a copy of which can be found on the Forsyth County Board of Elections web site. Here is the text from the "Alert" box at the end of that pamphlet:

"Ballots received after 5:00 p.m. on Election Day will be timely ONLY if they are received at the county board of elections by mail bearing a postmark dated on or before the date of the election and are received no later than 5:00 p.m. on the third day following the election."

Doesn't make much sense, does it?

Maybe there is a warning on the actual ballot?

Or perhaps the Board of Elections treats absentee ballots differently than campaign finance reports and accepts the former so long as they are received no later than 5 PM on the third day following the election, "real" postmark or not. Why not write to your county board and find out what their policy is?