Haven’t voted yet? Planning to use a USPS box instead of a King County Elections dropbox? A longtime reader who is also a letter carrier based out of a West Seattle post office has advice for you – anonymously since they’re not authorized to officially speak for USPS. Here’s the note they sent us:
I would like you to remind the people on the West Seattle Blog that they can drop their ballots off in any USPS collection box tomorrow. Remember that these boxes have specific pickup times located on the box by the mail slot, letting the consumers know the earliest that the designated carrier can pick up the mail in that collection box.
We are advised at the 98116 station that we will be doing multiple pickups on our collection box with most carriers picking up right before their 8-hour shift (~3:15 pm). I would highly advise people to not use the collection boxes after 3:00 pm as we cannot guarantee any ballots deposited at the time to be postmarked Nov 5 as they may not be serviced again at this time. (I cannot count how times many ballots I have collected the next day that will not be counted because of not being postmarked on the correct day.) After 3:00 pm I would recommend voters to drop off at any ballot dropbox locations or any mail carrier they see on the streets after 3:00 pm. Routinely the last truck leaving for the plant is ~5:30 pm but I assure you there will most likely be a late one running because of the Nov 5 elections.
We at the USPS in Washington State take great pride in being part of one of the fairest ways of holding an election. We have made great effort and work long hours to deliver ballots and information to the general registered voters and it would be a shame if we did not pass on this information in regards to our collection boxes. Thank you for your time and consideration on this sensitive but important matter.
P.S. County stats show 62 percent of ballots so far have come in via drop box, 37 percent via USPS.
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