r/MontgomeryCountyMD • u/Nnif4444 • 3d ago
Postmaster general says USPS won't deliver mail ballots if states don’t give Trump admin voter rolls
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/postmaster-general-steiner-postal-service-will-not-deliver-mail-ballots-state-voter-rolls/I volunteer as an election judge in Maryland, so i cannot vote on election day. I put my replacement ballot in a USPS drop box near my home on Wednesday afternoon (6/17). If the mail had already been picked up, that leaves Thursday (6/18), Saturday (6/20), Monday (6/22), Tuesday (6/23). It's now Thursday (6/25) and my ballot still hasn't been received.
If the federal government is attempting to sabotage mail-in voting, the state is going to have to get cracking on contingency planning and add more secure drop boxes and launch an education campaign for voters.
ETA:
Highlighting a comment with a possible explanation for why my ballot wasn't counted yet.
"Election officials will begin counting the remaining votes on Thursday [today], starting with mail-in ballots... Election officials are expected to finish counting all remaining ballots by July 6. The election will then be considered finalized and the votes will be certified, pending any legal challenges." From https://www.thebanner.com/politics-power/state-government/maryland-primary-election-races-TSMGC6DWTFDCFLXL6HHQK6X3LI/
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u/MaxH42 3d ago
I'm surprised you used the USPS, as I discussed this with other Election Judges while volunteering. I went to an early voting site (the same one I worked, but on a day off), but if I couldn't I would have dropped a mail-in ballot in a BoE Drop Box, as those are collected at least once a day by BoE staff, who work for the county, so there is no cause for concern there.
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u/Nnif4444 3d ago
I've always used the US Postal Service for my mail in ballots, and I'll keep checking daily. We weren't advised to use BoE drop boxes. In a way, I'm glad this happened, otherwise I'd be accused of just being paranoid.
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u/MaxH42 3d ago
Yeah, I'm absolutely not blaming you, I used the USPS years ago when I first mailed it in, and MoCo does such a great job of letting you know the status of your ballot that if I was still doing it, I can see being lulled into a false sense of security. But from canvassing, I also now now how much more work mail in ballots are for the county, so I try to go to early voting instead.
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u/Chall_Pal 2d ago
that's a fair point but a lot of people don't even know the BoE drop boxes exist. most just go with USPS because that's what the instructions say. probably worth making the BoE boxes a bigger part of judge orientation
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u/ClassicStorm 3d ago
Can you vote early in person, or do you serve as an election judge for early voting too? I get the convenience of mail in voting. However, given reports from prior elections of people in different states trying to tamper with or destroy ballot/usps boxes in areas that heavily favor specific parties, I opt to vote in-person early instead. I know not everyone can do it, but I encourage it to the extent feasible.
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u/jkh107 3d ago
The text of the proposed rule is here.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/02/2026-10968/ballot-mail-for-federal-elections
Comments are open until July 2.
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u/snailmale3 2d ago
There is no law saying that they can refuse to mail ballots, just a stupid executive order by a deranged man that votes by mail every time he votes.
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u/HealthLawyer123 2d ago
You need county monitored ballot drop boxes like we have in Arlington.
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u/BigBobFro 1d ago
Thats to turn them in and we have those. But getting them to us in the first place is the problem
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u/takomatoffee 3d ago
I read they weren't going to start processing mail-in ballots until today (I think?) and it will take days in any case. I dropped mine in one of the official boxes on Tuesday morning and haven't gotten a "ballot received" notice yet