Oregon voters might not have as much time to peruse their ballots if the Postal Service succeeds in eliminating Saturday mail delivery.
Currently, many Oregon voters receive their ballot on Saturday, 17 days before an election. That could be pushed two days later, to Monday, under the Postal Service’s plans. Ending Saturday mail delivery can also affect ballot returns. Elections officials might reconsider their recommendation that voters mail back their ballots no later than the Friday before an election, said Oregon Elections Director Steve Trout. “We’ve been talking about ways we can change our business model to work best with their new business model,” said Trout.
Trout also emphasized that Secretary of State Kate Brown continues to oppose the end of Saturday delivery and will urge Congress to block it. In 2010 testimony to the Postal Regulatory Commission, Brown said she worried that cutting the number of delivery days could cause delays, add to the burden of elections workers and threaten to “disenfranchise voters in Oregon.”
She said then that ending Saturday delivery could double the number of ballots that arrive on the Monday before an election. That could slow processing since workers are already inundated with ballots in the final days before an election.
Trout said it’s too early to know how Oregon might change its mail voting system since the Postal Service hasn’t yet provided details on how its systems would change with the end of Saturday delivery.
Full Article: End to Saturday mail delivery could squeeze Oregon’s vote-by-mail | OregonLive.com.