Don’t Trust The Mail With Your Vote

Don’t Trust The Mail With Your Vote

By Pauline Braccio

There is a lot of debate about voting in person vs. voting by mail. 

I just want to let you know what happened when I mailed something to the District Court in Norristown. I purchased a Certificate of Mailing (see the copy) so that I would have proof that I did indeed send the paperwork within the thirty day time limit. That was on March 31. Since the courts were closed to the public, and no one was answering the phone, I was not aware that the court had not received the paperwork until late July.

Now the question is this: Were the clerks at the court told to “misrepresent” the truth and they actually received and discarded the paperwork or did the postal service fail to deliver it? 

Since I have the Certificate of Mailing, the postal service had it to deliver. But I do not have a signature verifying that it was received by the court.

The same question goes for mail-in ballots. They send you a ballot. You fill it out and mail it back. From what I understand, you should receive confirmation that it was received. In the primary this past May, I worked in the poll as the Judge of Election for my precinct. That day, twenty-four people who had applied for a mail-in ballot came in to vote because

1. They never received the ballot.

2. They received the incorrect ballot.

3. They did not get confirmation that their ballot was received.

4. They changed their mind and decided to vote in person after all.

Valid reasons, however, if you apply for a mail-in ballot, then for whatever reason you decide to come in and vote in person, you should know that you will not put a ballot through the scanner. You will fill out a Provisional Ballot. It will not be scanned. The provisional ballot gets put into a secure envelope and at the end of the day it travels to the tabulation site in Norristown via the Judge of Election’s car to a drop off site, then via the truck from the drop off to Norristown. 

Ed. Note: A rule has been changed for the general election so that if you bring your (unmarked) mail in ballot and envelopes to your polling place, they will be spoiled and you will be allowed to vote in person.

Sometimes the provisional ballots get delivered properly, sometimes the bags are “lost.” If they make it to the tabulation, the people who work there have to verify that a mail-in ballot was not received by them from you. That is why it is provisional. If they find your mail-in ballot, the provisional is not counted.

Either way, a mail-in ballot or a provisional ballot has to be handled by people and counted by people.

In-person voting is done through the scanner and is much, much more secure.

Note: If you apply for a mail-in, do it early, fill it out immediately, and mail it back. Hanging on to it serves no purpose, especially if you run out of time.

Anyway, you have to make up your mind. I just want you to know there are pitfalls if you choose to mail-in your ballot or go to the poll and fill out a provisional ballot. 

The best way is still to NOT apply for a mail-in and just go to the polls.

Ms. Braccio is a a resident of Towamencin Township in Montgomery County, Pa.

Don’t Trust The Mail With Your Vote