USPS Just Changed Postmarks — Here’s How to Protect Your Vote

Your Mail-In Ballot Could Be Rejected—Even If You Sent It On Time

The USPS has changed how postmarks work, and that change puts some ballots at risk. Here's what you need to know and what you can do about it.

What's changed: Your ballot's postmark now shows the day it runs through automated sorting equipment—which might be a day or more after you dropped it in the mailbox. In states that count ballots postmarked by Election Day, this means a ballot you mailed on time could arrive with a "late" postmark and be thrown out.

This isn't just about ballots. The same timing issue affects health insurance appeals, Medicare paperwork, disability documents, and anything else that must be "postmarked by" a deadline.

How to Protect Your Vote:

Use a Ballot Drop Box. Official ballot drop boxes and in-person delivery to election offices eliminate postal delays entirely. This is your safest option.

Mail Early. If you're voting by mail, send your ballot at least seven days before your state's deadline. That gives it time to reach a processing plant and get postmarked well before Election Day.

Go to the Counter for Last-Minute Ballots. If you're mailing close to the deadline, take your ballot inside the post office. Tell the clerk it's an election ballot that needs to be postmarked today, and ask for a hand postmark—which reflects the actual date they accept it, not when it goes through the machine later.

Spread the Word: Disabled voters, rural voters, low-income voters, and others who rely on mail voting need to know about this change. Share this information with your community.

Push for Voter-Friendly Policies: Contact your election officials. Ask them to expand drop box locations and in-person voting options, and to apply postmark rules in ways that protect voters—not penalize them for postal processing delays.

Our vote is our power. Let's make sure every ballot counts.