Expecting surge in absentee voting, Postal Service warns SC ballots could go uncounted
The U.S. Postal Service sent a letter to multiple election agencies across the country, including the S.C. State Election Commission, warning that mail-in ballots may not arrive in time to be counted under state law in this November’s upcoming election.
According to The Washington Post, 46 states and the District of Columbia all received the letter in advance of an election that is expected to bring a surge of mail-in absentee ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Chris Whitmire, a spokesman for the State Election Commission, confirmed the agency received the letter, which details standard delivery times and costs, and points out that under South Carolina law, ballots could be sent out to voters close enough to Election Day that it would be impossible to mail them back in time to be counted.
In order to ensure all mail-in ballots are counted, Whitmire urged voters to apply for an absentee ballot as soon as possible. Ballots will be sent out in early October, approximately 30 days before the Nov. 3 election, and voters should have them back in the mail at least a week before Election Day to be safe, Whitmire said.
This issue, Whitmire said, is not new to USPS and the election commission. It has been an ongoing concern for the agencies for “years,” Whitmire said.
“The deadline to return an application for an absentee-by-mail ballot is four days prior to the election, 5 p.m. on Friday, the Friday before the election. That’s not new, and the problems that exist with how that does not mesh with Postal Service transit times isn’t new.”
In the past, voters have requested absentee ballots close to that deadline but have not received their ballots until Monday, the day before the election. When that occurs, they can drop off their ballots in-person at their county voter registration office before 7 p.m. on Election Day.
But if they try to mail the ballot, there’s virtually no way it will reach the office in time to be counted, Whitmire said.
“Basically what the Postal Service is doing is, one, reaching out to the states to restate their commitment to election mail and the mail-in process, but they went the extra step of looking at each state’s absentee-by-mail rules to point out things that they saw were incompatible. And that’s what they did, but we know that,” Whitmire said.
Trump attacks mail-in ballots
Mail-in ballots, however, have received extra attention this year, as the coronavirus pandemic has led many states to expand absentee voting. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly attacked mail-in balloting, claiming without evidence it leads to massive voter fraud.
And in recent days, the Postal Service’s funding and ability to handle what is expected to be a crush of mailed-in ballots has come under scrutiny. Trump has said he opposes additional funding for the USPS, saying that without the money, the Postal Service won’t be able to sort and deliver the additional ballots, which would limit the use of mail-in voting.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed by Trump, has also recently implemented cost-cutting measures to the agency that critics say have slowed processing and delivery.
Whitmire said South Carolina’s election commission always has had a positive working relationship with the USPS.
“Our experience working with the Postal Service is that they are committed. They not only say that they’re committed, they demonstrate that when we work with them. And if some issue arises, they’re right on it,” Whitmire said.
“They’ve always demonstrated a commitment to the election process and election mail, so we continue to work with them and we expect that to continue to work that way, and I think the letter is a demonstration of that, that they’re concerned about it, which is good.”
Record number of ballots expected
However, this year is likely to challenge the system in South Carolina like never before with a projected record number of mail-in absentee ballots, Whitmire said.
The election commission has compared the number of absentee ballots requested during the June primary with the number requested in the 2016 primaries. If the same level of increase in absentee ballots happens during the general election compared to 2016, South Carolina could see 1.6 million absentee ballots sent out, with more than 1 million sent back via mail.
Whitmire calls those estimates “scary,” saying the state’s current record for absentee voting is just over 500,000 ballots, with the record being sent in by mail at 140,000.
And even if the Postal Service is able to deliver all those ballots in time by 7 p.m. on Election Day, there could very well be a delay in tabulating results, Whitmire warned.
Under current state election law, commission workers are not allowed to open envelopes containing mailed-in ballots until Monday morning before Election Day, and they cannot begin scanning and counting the votes until 9 a.m. on the day of the election.
In an attempt to avoid delays, the election commission has sent a letter to the General Assembly asking it to approve changes that would allow received mailed-in ballots to be counted earlier, according to WMBF.
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Expecting surge in absentee voting, Postal Service warns SC ballots could go uncounted."
