I dont need to call the Election Office if I dont receive a ballot (though I will receive it, because I applied in July and they will begin sending them September 24). The rules are already clear. You can go to an early or regular voting site and they will automatically give you a provisional ballot. And if I do receive my ballot but change my mind and want to vote in person instead I can just cede my ballot to an election official who will spoil it and give me a regular ballot.
But NONE of this was the point of my post. The OP said not to use the post office. My point was to remark that simply to obtain your mail-in ballot you necessarily have to use the post office. They are sent through the mail. Everybody will have to depend on the post office if they want a mail-in ballot.
Honestly, I think early in-person voting is going to be easiest. Its spread over about 20 days where I live. If I have to go into a site to drop off my ballot, and then keep waiting to see if it was (a) accepted, and (b) counted ... I might as well vote the regular way, feed my ballot into the machine, and see that it was counted right away (and will be included in the election nigh tally). Either way, Im going to have to put on a mask and gloves, and then come home and scrub up.