USPS changes mean Texas mail ballots may need to be sent early to be counted in primary elections

(Houston Public Media) – A pair of policy changes at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) have the potential to impact whether some mail-in ballots are counted in upcoming elections, particularly in Texas.

Starting Dec. 24, the postal service clarified that mail no longer receives guaranteed same-day postmarks. Postmarks are the official timestamp determining whether absentee ballots are submitted on time.

“The postmark now is applied when it reaches a processing facility, not when you drop it in your post box,” said Jessica Pace, communications and education manager at the League of Women Voters Houston. “So … whether it’s your postage for USPS driver to pick up or one of their blue boxes at their locations, that’s no longer a viable date to have … something like your ballot postmarked.”

The change follows one the postal service made last April that cut in half the number of mail truck visits to post offices in ZIP codes more than 50 miles from a regional processing and distribution center.

“In years past, the postal service would have trucks that would pick up mail at each of the post offices and bring it to a regional center twice a day, so you had a better chance of your ballot or your mail being brought back and postmarked the same day,” said Tom Lopach, president and CEO of the nonprofit Voter Participation Center. “Now, as of April, they only have trucks going once a day to pick up mail, and now they’re only allowing the postmark to take place at a regional facility. So, in a place like Houston, you may well drop off your piece of mail at your local post office or your suburban post office after 3 in the afternoon, and it may not get postmarked ’til the next day.”