Multiple election offices report receiving mailed ballots misdirected from other states

Helena (Montana), Nov 20 (AP) Terry Thompson had an election to run for voters in Cascade County, Montana. Why then, she thought, was her office in Great Falls being sent mailed ballots completed by voters in places such as Wasilla, Alaska; Vancouver, Washington; and Tampa, Florida?
    It was only about a dozen ballots total from voters in other states. But she said it still raised concerns about the ability of the US Postal Service to deliver election mail and whether the errant ballots would ever be counted.
    "I mean, I would have had to been doing FedEx overnight envelopes to all these states to try to get them where they needed to go," said Thompson, the county's election administrator.
    She received about a half dozen others that should have gone to county election offices in other parts of Montana. For those, she said she "just had to hope and pray" they made it back on time.
    While a stray ballot ending up in the wrong place can happen during election season, the number of ballots destined for other states and counties that ended up at Thompson's office is unusual. AP found it wasn't an anomaly. Election offices in California, Louisiana, New Mexico and elsewhere also reported receiving completed ballots in the mail that should have gone to other states.
    The Postal Service said on Tuesday that without additional information or tracking data from bar codes on ballot envelopes, it cannot comment further on those cases. It said earlier this month that it had been working closely with local election officials to resolve concerns.
    But to some election officials, the misdirected ballots confirm concerns they raised before the November 5 presidential election about the US Postal Service's performance and ability to handle a crush of mail ballots, as early voting has become increasingly popular with voters.
    State election officials warned in September that problems with the nation's mail delivery system threatened to disenfranchise voters in the upcoming presidential election.
    In Louisiana, state election officials said some 40 to 50 ballots destined for 10 other states ended up being delivered to local election offices, mostly in Orleans Parish. Deputy Secretary of State Joel Watson Jr said the Secretary of State's Office had "extraordinary frustration" for the Postal Service's continued "inconsistencies" and "lack of accountability".
    Dozens of mail ballots from inside the state also were delivered to the wrong local election office, Watson said.
    "There were many instances where our staff had to physically take these ballots and drive them to another parish to get them there on time to make sure those votes count," Watson said.
    Louisiana law does not permit ballot drop boxes, and Watson indicated his office does not support moving in that direction and would continue to encourage voters to cast their ballots in person.
    The US Postal Service said it puts election mail ahead of other mail for processing and accounts for it with daily checks, known as "all clears". Also, the USPS recommends that election offices use individual bar codes on ballot envelopes.
    "The United States Postal Service is fully committed to fulfilling our role in the electoral process when policy makers choose to utilise us as a part of their election system, and to delivering election mail in a timely manner," Rod Spurgeon, a USPS spokesman, said in an email.
    Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, said ballot monitors identified some problems inside facilities during the election season but said they were resolved.
    Still, state and local election officials reported numerous cases of ballots ending up in the wrong place.
    In New Mexico's Santa Fe County, County Clerk Katharine Clark said seven ballots bound for her office were instead delivered to Los Angeles County in Southern California. Those ballots were redirected, Clark said, but did not arrive at her office before the state's deadline to be counted, which is 7 pm on election day.
    In addition, Clark said her office received two ballots destined for Los Angeles County and one for Maricopa County in Arizona that she sent back to the US Postal Service. Nine ballots should have been delivered to other counties within New Mexico.
    The California Secretary of State's office said about 150 mail ballots from Oregon voters were misdirected to California before being sent back. Officials at the state election office in Springfield, Illinois, somehow ended up with a ballot intended for Massachusetts.
    "Yeah, I have no idea how that happens," said Matt Dietrich, spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of Elections.
    Amy Cohen, executive director of the National Association of State Election Directors, called the incidents "disappointing and heartbreaking".
    But Cohen said the examples from this past presidential election seem to reflect the issues that election officials had been worried about since 2023 and were highlighted in their September letter to US Postal Service leadership.
    In Kansas, Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican, was so frustrated after the August primary with hundreds of mail ballots arriving after the deadline for counting them that he posted on social media, "The Pony Express is more efficient at this point." Schwab, unlike other Republicans, has touted the use of drop boxes. (AP) SZM

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)