The United States Postal Service (USPS) is in a period they call "extraordinary measures" to ensure ballots make it to the Elections Office on time.
Postal carriers are putting in longer hours as the midterm election brings a surge in mail. They're loading up more mail than usual as election pickups and deliveries enter the home stretch.
To move ballots swiftly through the mail, USPS says they "accelerate and enhance the delivery of ballot mail," including:
- Extra deliveries and collections
- Special pickups
- Implementing a "sorting plan" at processing facilities to expedite delivery of ballots to boards of elections
- Localizing the handling and transportation of ballots
Maya Zavaleta certainly noticed when her mail didn't arrive at its typical time.
"I heard somebody around my mailbox. I said, 'Who is that?' And it was my mail person. I was like, oh my gosh. And they had their light on in their headlamp. So yeah, it was definitely late," she said.
Mailboxes are also filling up. KSBY News reporter Jessica Roe discovered a collection box in front of San Luis Obispo City Hall was overflowing. After reporting it to USPS, a carrier was dispatched and found an obstruction.
A USPS spokesperson said that if anyone comes across a full box well before the posted collection time, call 1-800-ASK-USPS.
County Clerk-Recorders recommend that, at this point, you take your ballot directly to the election center or put it in a county ballot drop box. However, USPS says that in the 2024 election, 99.6 percent of ballots from voters arrived within three days.
