The U.S. Postal Service warned Pennsylvania officials in a letter that, even if all legal and operational procedures are followed, “there is a significant risk” mail-in ballots for the November election may arrive too late to be counted because the state’s election deadlines are likely “incongruous with the Postal Service’s delivery standards.”
“To be clear, the Postal Service is not purporting to definitively interpret the requirements of your state’s election laws,” states the July letter, attached as an exhibit to a filing submitted by Pennsylvania’s Department of State to the state Supreme Court (pdf) on Aug. 13. But the USPS warned that if voters wait until the last minute to request a ballot and election officials use all the time legally allotted to them to send out blank ballots and do so using a slower postal service, which they are legally allowed to do, then completed ballots may arrive several days too late to be valid.
