DMV board of elections say they have plans for mail-in ballots amid increase in US mail delays
WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - Widespread delays in mail delivery has many people in the D.C. region worried that it could impact important mail like retirement checks, prescriptions and voting by mail for the November election.
On Monday, some democratic lawmakers in Maryland, including Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) called out President Donald Trump and the Postmaster-General —demanding they reverse any changes they made to the U.S. Postal System.
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“This would be unacceptable at any time but especially so during a pandemic when more and more people rely on the mail,” said Van Hollen.
The agency is caught in the middle of a contentious election year that is sparking debate over how Americans will vote.
“Apparently he (Donald Trump) wants to make it harder for other people’s ballots to be delivered on time by mail,” said Van Hollen.
But the president said, that is not what he is doing and that the Postmaster-General is instituting much-needed workplace reforms in order to cut costs for the cash strapped postal service.
Meanwhile, Virginia Attorney General, Mark Herring said that he and attorneys general from several other states have talked legal action against the Trump administration,which would prevent the agency from making operational changes in the run-up to the November election.
“I’m going to make sure that Donald Trump and the administration doesn’t violate the law and doesn’t thwart our ability to make sure the people could vote safely by mail,” Herring said, “and I’m going to make sure that every vote counts.”
RELATED: DC postal union: mail sorting machines turned off, disassembled
FOX 5’s Ayesha Khan reached out to the Boards of Elections for Maryland, D.C and Virginia.
In a statement from the MDBOE we were told:
“The U.S. Postal Service contacted the Board on July 31 regarding its operational capabilities for the 2020 General Election. In response, the Board has taken a series of actions to give Maryland voters additional time to mail in their ballot applications and ballots if they choose to vote by mail.
The Board this month moved the deadline for voters to return their ballot applications up one week to Tuesday, Oct. 20 from Tuesday, Oct. 27. Additionally, ballot applications mailed to voters will include clear messaging encouraging them to return their applications early. The Board will also begin mailing ballots at least 30 days before Election Day and will use first class mail for both ballot applications and mail-in ballots.
While voters' ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day, ballots are timely as long as they are received by Friday, Nov. 13 -- 10 days after Election Day.
The Board continues to encourage all Marylanders to cast mail-in ballots as a precaution during the COVID-19 state of emergency and to do so in a timely manner.”
And in D.C., Board of Elections Chair Michael Bennett said that the board has a plan in place which includes, “mailing the ballots to every register voter in D.C.”
“We are also opening up at least 80 vote centers where people can vote in person. It won’t matter where you live and we will have early voting that starts October 27th.”
We did not hear back from the Virginia Board of Elections but voters can take an absentee ballot to any of the early voting centers or to the registrar without having to mail them in.