Isn't the safest and surest way to vote by mail to deposit your ballot at your local Post Office

[stopbush]

and to do it ASAP?

I would imagine any mail deposited at a brick-n-mortar PO will be processed and post marked within a day, arriving at your local BoE within three days, max. On the surface, a better solution than depositing in a blue box sitting out on a street corner, or even handing it to your mail carrier. You also avoid any shenanigans that might occur at your local polling place, like misplaced boxes of ballots. Minimize added steps where things could go wrong.

Am I wrong?

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Many counties have ballot drop boxes at polls. I have used that and will again.

At this stage, I love our USPS but with those miscreants in charge, anything goes.

[stopbush]

2. My wife used a drop off box in 2018. She went to our usual polling place

which was not being used. Surprise! She needed to drive three miles to a ballot box at City Hall.

[lagomorph777]

10. That's my plan; bypass USPS wherever possible.

Not possible in all jurisdictions; check your local rules.

MSNBC has a "Plan Your Vote" site to help with this.

[MANative]

3. Our CT city has ballot drop boxes at city hall and a couple of fire stations

That's what we're planning to do.

[stopbush]

4. I know there are ballot boxes available. My question is directed at those who opt

to mail in their ballot via USPS. Voting in person is better than dropping in a ballot box. That’s not the question.

[lagomorph777]

11. Voting in person is not better if COVID could stop you from voting.

I am not aware of real evidence that in-person voting is better than a drop box (especially if the drop box is at the Board of Elections office).

[zebrapa]

18. I disagree

Other than voting in person, handing in you ballot at the Board of Elections is the best way to ensure your vote is counted.

[lagomorph777]

20. So you don't disagree.

Handing in the ballot in person, if possible, is equally secure as voting at a polling place. Many people (myself included) don't consider in-person voting to be a safe option this year, in terms of physical safety of the voter. But sure, if it's safe, both are equally secure in terms of the ballot. I don't think our opinions are significantly far apart.

[dlk]

5. There are voters without transportation

[lagomorph777]

13. Yes - all these methods must be weighed against the local rules and the voter's abilities/resources.

But somebody who needs transportation really should contact their local Democratic Party - who will surely be eager to help.

[global1]

6. Good Solution......

To bad that there are many American's that don't live close to a local Post Office or don't have the ability to drive or get to a local Post Office.

Question: Could someone else take a sealed mail-in ballot to the Post Office for those that can't make it there themselves? Or is there some rule or law that says that if the ballot is dropped off at a local Post Office that it must be dropped off by the person whose ballot it is?

Also - some words about those street corner blue boxes.

I wouldn't put it past Trump to hire or to send out his supporters to mess with the mail in those boxes. Throw in fire crackers or matches or some sort of liquid that would destroy anything in those boxes. Remember Trump is desperate here. I wouldn't put it past him that he would stoop to such tactics. Note how crazy his supporters are. They don't call them 'deplorables' for nothing.

Keep in mind that it is a federal offense to tamper with the mail.

[lagomorph777]

14. I'm not aware of any rule that says somebody can't drop off your mail for you.

(regardless of the content of that mail).

There may be such rules prohibiting drop-off by 3rd parties at a drop box or local board of elections. Check your local jurisdiction.

[zebrapa]

8. YOU'RE WRONG

Drop your ballot off at your county Board of Election located at your county seat. Avoid mailing ballots if possible.

[SheltieLover]

9. Not all states allow drop off - please check laws!

TN does not allow ballot drop off anywhere. Ever.

[lagomorph777]

15. +100 Everybody needs to check the local laws and facilities, and devise their own plan!

In my specific case in Virginia:

(1) Apply for a ballot online. If you are in VA and haven't done so, please do it right this minute, today!
(2) Wait for ballot to be mailed to me, starting 45 days before November 3rd. (the scary bit)
(3) Drive the ballot to the County Registrar

Your plan will vary, depending on your local laws and your capabilities.

[SheltieLover]

16. Absolutely!

👍

[ananda]

12. Mine's going straight into the hands of my local voting clerk!

...

[csziggy]

17. Maybe in a normal year

This year one issue is whether ballots sent out will arrive soon enough for voters to have the two weeks the USPS is now recommending to send them in to arrive at the elections office in time. This is particularly a problem in those states that require the ballots arrive by 5PM ON Election Day. That means the sample ballot probably took two weeks to arrive

Mail is definitely being slowed, even election mail. Our Supervisor of Elections send out sample ballots that normally arrive before Early Voting starts. Mine this year arrived the day after I early voted, over a week into early voting. That means the sample ballot probably took two weeks to arrive when it normally takes a few days.

In June the Supervisor recommended requesting vote by mail ballots for the primary and the General Election to make sure they would arrive in time. I don't know if there were problems for the primary that is being held today. It will be interesting to find out.

But say the Supervisor of Elections sends out requested vote by mail ballots on October 1 and it takes two weeks to get them to the voters. That means that voters receiving ballots on October 15 have to immediately fill them out and get them in the mail unless they are able to take them to a drop box. If the voters delay a few days, the two week mailing time that the USPS says would safely get the ballots to the elections office will get the ballots in after Election Day. In some states those voters would be disenfranchised.

These are not normal times. We cannot rely on the Trump crony run postal system to get our ballots into the elections offices on time.

[LisaL]

19. OH allows extra time and ballots can arrive up to 10 days after the election.

But they have to be postmarked a day before an election. To make sure ballot is postmarked, it would make sense to take it to the post office and ask them to post mark it. Otherwise you can not guarantee it being postmarked, even if it is send before the election.

[csziggy]

23. Some states do, some don't. Some require that they arrive by Election Day.

Either way,the postal service should be reliable, not haphazard as it is now.

I get medical supplies shipped four times a year. More than once when shipped to a PO Box they did not arrive within a month. When I went in to ask about it, the package was located after a long search. I was never notified when it arrived at the post office. The company that ships the supplies calls me before each shipment goes out. They called me this morning. I put the call into my calendar and will put a reminder in each week to check how long it takes to get to me. If it takes a month I will be screaming bloody murder.

Consider that will ballots - if it is a month from the election office, then a month back, that is just not acceptable.

[CabalPowered]

21. No

Many post offices send local mail to a sorting branch, only to be shipped back to the originating branch.

[msongs]

22. safest - drop at polling place election day 2. drop at early days polling place. last - USPS IMO

[smirkymonkey]

24. I'm going straight to City Hall and dropping mine off in person.

It's probably the safest option I have at this point.