Changes at the U.S. Postal Service mean voters may need to take extra steps to vote by mail in the upcoming midterm election.
This year’s General Election is scheduled for November 3, but SLO County Clerk Recorder Elaina Cano is encouraging voters to mail in their ballots a full seven days early, in late October.
Cano says her recommendation is due to the Postal Service recently changing their policies.
“There's not a guarantee that ballots will get postmarked on the day that a voter puts it in their mailbox,” she told KCBX.
Voters who still want to send in their ballots closer to Election Day should take them to a post office and get a hand-stamped postmark, Cano says.
“We really encourage that the voter themselves watch the clerk actually date stamp [their ballot] with their big purple stamp,” she said. “Sit there and watch them do it. Don't just say, ‘Can you please do this?’"
Voters can also use a ballot drop box location, as long as they drop off before 8 p.m. on Election Day.
The drop boxes open October 6, a day after voters should receive their ballots in the mail.
According to the Tribune, SLO County saw an increase in thrown-out ballots during the last Primary Election in June. Thousands of votes were rejected because of ballots arriving too late.
Last week, a federal judge barred the Postal Service from implementing an executive order issued by President Trump to limit mail-in voting.
