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Secretary of State warns regionalized postmarks could affect voter registration and mail ballots
Summary
The Director of Elections at the Texas Secretary of State testified that USPS changes shifting postmarking to regional centers can delay affixing postmarks, creating risks for voter registration deadlines and ballot-by-mail receipt windows; the office has posted guidance and sample forms on votetexas.gov and urged statewide education.
Christina Adkins, director of elections at the Texas Secretary of State's office, told the subcommittee that recent USPS clarifications place postmarking functions at regional distribution centers rather than local retail offices, which can delay when an item receives an official postmark and affect voter registration and mail-ballot deadlines. "Postmarks are not affixed at the local retail centre ... rather those items are sent to regional distribution centres and it's at those regional distribution centers where they would receive a postmark," Adkins said.
Adkins said the Secretary of State's office has promulgated a sample form and added guidance to votetexas.gov for voters and local election officials, and recommended public education and local-state coordination. She warned the committee that where deadlines are tight, missing or delayed postmarks could trigger litigation in close contests and urged preparatory legislative discussion.
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