The U.S. Postal Service has warned Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson that mail delivery timelines pose “significant risk” to ballots sent too close to Election Day and that could lead to their disqualification.
USPS General Counsel Thomas J. Marshall wrote to Benson that Michigan election laws and certain deadlines for requesting and casting mail-in ballots are “incongruous” and “incompatible” with the Postal Service’s delivery standards.
“This mismatch creates a risk that ballots requested near the deadline under state law will not be returned by mail in time to be counted under your laws as we understand them,” Marshall wrote in a letter a week before a primary election that saw record absentee participation in Michigan.