Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab has raised concerns about approximately 1,000 August primary voters in the state being disenfranchised due to issues with the U.S. Postal Service. In a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the Kansas congressional delegation, Schwab highlighted the failure of ballots to arrive on time or with essential postmarks, leading to a troubling pattern of USPS processing and handling of ballots.
During the August primary, Schwab noted that nearly 1,000 Kansans had their ballots go uncounted due to USPS administrative failures, amounting to 2% of mail-in ballots in the state. In response, Schwab requested assurances from the USPS that every mail ballot in the upcoming November general election would receive a postmark for proper counting.
Schwab emphasized the importance of maintaining trust in the election system and ensuring that ballots are handled with utmost care. He pointed out that the state has had mail voting for over a century, but confidence in ballot delivery has been questioned in the current era.
The Kansas law requires mail-in ballots to be postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day, with a three-day grace period for ballots arriving after the deadline. However, Schwab noted that county election offices received ballots days or weeks after they were mailed, some without postmarks.
Schwab called the situation unacceptable and urged the USPS to make operational changes to improve the postmarking of ballots. This, he said, would help voters have more confidence in the delivery of their ballots and prevent disenfranchisement due to administrative errors.
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Photo credit kansasreflector.com
