Experts recommend voters hand-deliver ballots as Election Day nears

Some experts are encouraging voters to turn in their ballots at drop boxes and avoid sending them by mail with the election less than a week away.

With the U.S. Postal Service continuing to face scrutiny over mail slowdowns and Election Day coming up, voting experts said dropping off ballots by hand or voting in person is the best way to ensure ballots are counted at this point.

Bob Brandon, the president of Fair Elections Center, said his organization has generally been supportive of mail balloting, but sending ballots by mail gets dicier by the day.

"As is always the case people wait or, in some places, people have not gotten their requested ballot in time," he said. "The general advice now is really to think of an alternative to putting something in the mail. If your state has drop boxes or other places to drop off your ballot, then do that."

Otherwise, voters can drop ballots off at their local board of elections or should consider voting in person. If they choose in person and have an absentee ballot, Brandon recommended that they bring it with them.

"They will either let you vote or give you a provisional ballot and count it if they don't receive an absentee ballot," he said.

Related

Politics

PoliticsPLAN YOUR VOTE: A state-by-state guide to voting by mail and early in-person voting

Some states have different windows for when they can receive a voter's ballot, so individuals should check their state deadlines.

The time crunch is particularly significant in the more than two dozen states that require that mail-in ballots be received by Election Day — including the swing states of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

The issue has become more complex with recent Supreme Court decisions that will affect some states' ballot-counting plans in response to the pandemic.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Though the Supreme Court ruled that North Carolina and Pennsylvania could continue their ballot extensions, the court blocked Wisconsin's plan to count ballots carrying a Nov. 3 postmark and received up to six days after Election Day. Those ballots now must be in the possession of election officials by 8 p.m. on Tuesday to be tallied.

U.S. Postal Service spokesman David Partenheimer said that the agency's top priority remains delivering ballots in a secure and timely fashion, but he said they continued to recommend that voters mail their completed ballot before Election Day and at least one week prior to the state's deadline.

"The Postal Service has not provided a deadline for mailing a return ballot, and will continue to accept ballots as they are presented to us," he said. "However, voters should consider state deadline requirements when deciding how to return their ballots."