The Conway town moderator last week warned that those wishing to mail in their ballot should do so as soon as possible because of a change in the way ballots are treated by the post office. New Hampshire’s federal delegation is looking into the situation.
The general presidential election is Nov. 3. Many people are voting absentee this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Town Moderator Deborah Fauver gave selectmen an update on the election preparations at their Oct. 13 meeting.
“In the past, Center Conway Post Office has been able to hold ballots, because it says ballot right on the outside of the envelope, and when they came in the Center Conway postmaster held on to them and the town clerk picked them up directly from him on election day,” said Fauver.
“But now, if you mail your ballot in Center Conway on Monday, Nov. 2, the Center Conway Post Office is required to send it to the distribution center in Portsmouth or Manchester, which means it won’t come back until Nov. 4, and we won’t be able to count it.”
Fauver says people need to get their ballots mailed by the end of October so as to leave a few days for it to go to southern New Hampshire and back.
“If you’re running late with your ballot bring it to the town hall in person on Nov. 2,” said Fauver.
The issue caught the attention of New Hampshire’s federal delegation, which sent a letter dated Oct. 20 to the U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
“As New Hampshire voters cast their mail-in ballots for the General Election on Nov, 3, we urge the Postal Service to do all it can in the days leading up to and on Election Day to ensure timely delivery of completed ballots,” states the letter.
“In particular, we urge you to allow election mail to be processed locally in the days leading up to the election rather than being routed to a processing center. We also urge you to communicate clearly with both local postal workers and state and local election officials how election mail should be handled between now and Nov. 3.”
The letter says mail is routed to either Manchester or White River Junction, Vt. The letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen as well as U.S. Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas. All are Democrats. They seek a response by Friday.
Fauver said the issue was brought up at a recent Zoom meeting for clerks and moderators and state officials. “The message is clear if they (voters) want to vote absentee they need to get moving right now.”
Eaton Town Clerk Suzanne Raiche said the new approach doesn’t make sense to her. She spoke to the Sun Tuesday. “Why is it safer to be sending ballots all over the state?” she asked.
Raiche said now that she’s heard about the change to the USPS process, she will call the two dozen or so residents who haven’t returned their ballot yet to make sure they know not to put them in the mail after its too late.
“I’m sure if they put it in the mail and they find out it had to go down to Manchester they will be very, very upset,” said Raiche.
Raiche said on Tuesday morning she ran into a woman who needed to get her car registration done and also sought to return ballots for her and her husband. The woman said the post office told her that it couldn’t take her ballot directly to the post office anymore.
“It’s stupid,” said Raiche.
Ballots can’t be returned to a town drop box or mail slots unless the box is staffed, and Conway doesn’t have the personnel to do that, said Fauver adding that the town had the ability to accept municipal election ballots with a drop box.
Voters with questions or concerns are urged to contact the Attorney General’s Election hotline: (866) 868-3703 or email electionlaw@doj.nh.gov.