- Are you planning to vote by mail? If so, ensure your vote is counted by dropping it off at designated sites (if available).
- The U.S. Postal Service is overloaded with a record amount of mail-in ballots this election.
- Officials are raising the alarm about mail-in ballots being received and processed in time for the election.
- Partisan politics may threaten the counting of mail-in ballots, causing turmoil on (and after) Election Day.
With just over one week until Election Day on November 3rd, it’s important to make sure you have a voting plan in place. Whether voting by mail, voting early in-person or voting on Election Day, knowing where to go and when is key.
All the voting information you may need has been compiled at iam2020.org, the IAM’s online U.S. election hub.
On the “Get Out the Vote” section of iam2020.org, you can find your polling place, find an early voting location, see what’s on your local ballot or locate a ballot dropbox if available in your state.
Delivery by the U.S. Postal Service remains slow despite the intervention of federal judges, and some voting advocates say ballots not in the mail now may not arrive in time to be counted and should instead be dropped off at designated voting facilities or boxes (if available). Alternatively, consider voting in-person either during your state’s early voting period or on Election Day, November 3rd.
“Don’t put it in the mail. Not at this point,” said Suzanne Almeida, interim Executive Director of the policy group Common Cause in Pennsylvania. “We’re at that point where if you can drop it off in person, drop it off in person.”
On-time delivery dropped the week ending Oct. 16 across three categories including the First Class service accorded to mailed ballots, the Postal Service said in a news release on Friday. According to the service, 85.58% of First Class mail was delivered on time, down 0.57% from the previous week.
“Please have a plan to vote this year,” said TCU National Legislative Director William DeCarlo. “As it gets closer to election day, make sure you get your ballot counted. Drop-off your ballot to the drop box locations or have a plan for how and when you are going to vote in-person. Do what it takes to make sure your vote counts!”