The USPS will no longer necessarily postmark mail at your local post office on the day you mail it, a change that seems to have been made suspiciously quietly. Instead, it may be postmarked when...
The USPS will no longer necessarily postmark mail at your local post office on the day you mail it, a change that seems to have been made suspiciously quietly. Instead, it may be postmarked when it reaches a regional processing center, which may be days later.
The USPS is now claiming that a postmark was never meant to indicate the date something was mailed, but only when it first goes through an automated processing machine. Since many state and federal governments have laws referring to "postmarked by" dates, such as tax filings, tax payments, court documents, and mail-in ballots, I'm going with *cough* bullshit as there's zero chance all of those people and governments totally thought postmarked meant whenever it gets to a processing center.
About 20 states, both red and blue, have an election laws that refers to the "postmarked by" date for mail-in ballots. This change by the USPS opens up the possibility for certain anti-mail-in-voting-fascist-pieces-of-shit to issue, say, an executive order to hold mail at specific local post offices for days before sending it on to the regional processing center to be postmarked, voiding them all.
I have been seeing this pop up, I believe you can still walk into a post office and get it postmarked but that may have been supposition. I'll try to dig and confirm Well if I'd read the article:...
I have been seeing this pop up, I believe you can still walk into a post office and get it postmarked but that may have been supposition. I'll try to dig and confirm
Well if I'd read the article:
Request a Manual Postmark: Customers may present a mail piece at a retail counter and request a "manual (local) postmark". This postmark is applied at the time of acceptance, so the date aligns with the date the USPS took possession.
Buying your postage at the counter also works. I know if I was making a ballot "late" I'd probably do it at the post office too. But this is going to make lines longer (and give them something to point to as proof the USPS is failing or something )
Many other government things use postmarks as a means of setting deadlines. Some paperwork was done on time if it was postmarked by such and such date, and businesses have long used that approach...
Many other government things use postmarks as a means of setting deadlines. Some paperwork was done on time if it was postmarked by such and such date, and businesses have long used that approach as well. Like...court documents and social security forms. Now they can just deny people disability by asking for a form and holding all mail longer than the deadline allows for.
Would this not disproportionately affect Trump voters? The main cause of the disconnect is RTO, which basically just means that in rural areas, instead of having a morning and evening shipment of...
Would this not disproportionately affect Trump voters? The main cause of the disconnect is RTO, which basically just means that in rural areas, instead of having a morning and evening shipment of mail from post offices to processing centers, there is only the morning.
This only affects rural areas, and those disproportionately vote for Trump.
As a result of these changes, it’s much more likely for Trump voters to miss the vote-in date than the more urban and suburban Democratic voters.
Unfortunately, it's politics. And it'll take a different kind of politics than are currently available to revert it. Make sure you vote in-person come November, if you can.
Unfortunately, it's politics. And it'll take a different kind of politics than are currently available to revert it. Make sure you vote in-person come November, if you can.
Fundamentally, this is a change from a certain to an indeterminate date for paperwork filing. You can know what date you mailed something, but you will never know when they postmark your outgoing...
Fundamentally, this is a change from a certain to an indeterminate date for paperwork filing. You can know what date you mailed something, but you will never know when they postmark your outgoing mail. This makes the mail worse. Other people have spoken to why it's an issue for political reasons, but it's also just plain worse service.
if one were to read the pdf linked in that site, about the actual rule, they would see that usps is not changing anything, merely codifying what already happens. everything else said about it is...
if one were to read the pdf linked in that site, about the actual rule, they would see that usps is not changing anything, merely codifying what already happens. everything else said about it is fearmongering. https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-20740.pdf
You are technically correct, as this particular rule isn't the one that's causing the problem: So, yes, there's an increased disconnect between mailing date and postmarked date, and it's an...
You are technically correct, as this particular rule isn't the one that's causing the problem:
As noted in the Proposed Rule, RTO increases the likelihood that a postmark applied at originating processing facilities—the locations where postmarks are typically applied—will contain a date that does not align with the date on which the Postal Service first accepted possession of the mailpiece. RTO was the subject of an earlier rulemaking (90 FR 10857) and separate proceedings before the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC Docket No. N2024-1)
So, yes, there's an increased disconnect between mailing date and postmarked date, and it's an intentional change, but it's not this change, so you're technically correct.
It's reflective of a lack of trust in how this administration and Dejoy manages the post office though. In another admin, in another time, I think this would have landed very differently. I think...
It's reflective of a lack of trust in how this administration and Dejoy manages the post office though. In another admin, in another time, I think this would have landed very differently. I think most folks posting about it, who I've seen doing so, aren't fearmongering but afraid - of the future of elections for one.
Yeah, if you drop a letter in a mailbox after the last pickup time, how would you expect it to work? If it has to be postmarked right away, go to the post office.
Yeah, if you drop a letter in a mailbox after the last pickup time, how would you expect it to work? If it has to be postmarked right away, go to the post office.
If you drop it in the box before the pickup time, and it's picked up and sent to distribution but not processed til tomorrow, what date would you assume the postmark would be? I was personally...
If you drop it in the box before the pickup time, and it's picked up and sent to distribution but not processed til tomorrow, what date would you assume the postmark would be?
I was personally under the impression it was the date it was picked up into the system, not the next day or maybe later if there's a holiday or weekend. I don't mail anything time sensitive so I'd never had a reason to know otherwise.
The USPS will no longer necessarily postmark mail at your local post office on the day you mail it, a change that seems to have been made suspiciously quietly. Instead, it may be postmarked when it reaches a regional processing center, which may be days later.
The USPS is now claiming that a postmark was never meant to indicate the date something was mailed, but only when it first goes through an automated processing machine. Since many state and federal governments have laws referring to "postmarked by" dates, such as tax filings, tax payments, court documents, and mail-in ballots, I'm going with
*cough*bullshit as there's zero chance all of those people and governments totally thought postmarked meant whenever it gets to a processing center.About 20 states, both red and blue, have an election laws that refers to the "postmarked by" date for mail-in ballots. This change by the USPS opens up the possibility for certain anti-mail-in-voting-fascist-pieces-of-shit to issue, say, an executive order to hold mail at specific local post offices for days before sending it on to the regional processing center to be postmarked, voiding them all.
I have been seeing this pop up, I believe you can still walk into a post office and get it postmarked but that may have been supposition. I'll try to dig and confirm
Well if I'd read the article:
Buying your postage at the counter also works. I know if I was making a ballot "late" I'd probably do it at the post office too. But this is going to make lines longer (and give them something to point to as proof the USPS is failing or something )
Many other government things use postmarks as a means of setting deadlines. Some paperwork was done on time if it was postmarked by such and such date, and businesses have long used that approach as well. Like...court documents and social security forms. Now they can just deny people disability by asking for a form and holding all mail longer than the deadline allows for.
Would this not disproportionately affect Trump voters? The main cause of the disconnect is RTO, which basically just means that in rural areas, instead of having a morning and evening shipment of mail from post offices to processing centers, there is only the morning.
This only affects rural areas, and those disproportionately vote for Trump.
As a result of these changes, it’s much more likely for Trump voters to miss the vote-in date than the more urban and suburban Democratic voters.
This is nuts, right?
Unfortunately, it's politics. And it'll take a different kind of politics than are currently available to revert it. Make sure you vote in-person come November, if you can.
I live in Texas so it’s difficult to vote by mail in the first place
Fundamentally, this is a change from a certain to an indeterminate date for paperwork filing. You can know what date you mailed something, but you will never know when they postmark your outgoing mail. This makes the mail worse. Other people have spoken to why it's an issue for political reasons, but it's also just plain worse service.
if one were to read the pdf linked in that site, about the actual rule, they would see that usps is not changing anything, merely codifying what already happens. everything else said about it is fearmongering.
https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-20740.pdf
You are technically correct, as this particular rule isn't the one that's causing the problem:
So, yes, there's an increased disconnect between mailing date and postmarked date, and it's an intentional change, but it's not this change, so you're technically correct.
It's reflective of a lack of trust in how this administration and Dejoy manages the post office though. In another admin, in another time, I think this would have landed very differently. I think most folks posting about it, who I've seen doing so, aren't fearmongering but afraid - of the future of elections for one.
Yeah, if you drop a letter in a mailbox after the last pickup time, how would you expect it to work? If it has to be postmarked right away, go to the post office.
If you drop it in the box before the pickup time, and it's picked up and sent to distribution but not processed til tomorrow, what date would you assume the postmark would be?
I was personally under the impression it was the date it was picked up into the system, not the next day or maybe later if there's a holiday or weekend. I don't mail anything time sensitive so I'd never had a reason to know otherwise.