Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab has expressed his disappointment regarding the U.S. Postal Service’s USPS response to concerns over mail-in ballot handling.
In a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, dated September 13, 2024, Schwab addressed the USPS’s failure to postmark and deliver ballots in a timely manner during the state’s August primary election.
Both actions disenfranchised Kansas voters, and I am seeking your assurance that this will not happen again in the November 5 general election, Schwab wrote.
He added that he was deeply troubled by the USPS’s apparent lack of awareness regarding the delivery issues he had raised. Schwab’s letter was also sent to Kansas Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, along with U.S. House members Ron Estes, Jake LaTurner, Tracey Mann, and Sharice Davids.
A key concern for Schwab was the USPS’s statement that not every piece of mail is postmarked.
He noted that the Postal Service’s policy is to postmark all ballots mailed by voters, regardless of whether they are prepaid by election officials or stamped by the voter. This raises broader concerns about how other time-sensitive mail, such as tax returns, is treated.
If there is a USPS policy stating that not every piece of mail is postmarked, the USPS should be transparent about this policy so that customers, especially voters, can make informed decisions when returning their ballots.
Failing to do so only undermines voter confidence in the election process,” Schwab’s letter concluded.