Voters in Tallahassee have concerns about local mail-in voting

Lance Davis voted by mail because it was convenient, but now, given ongoing delivery problems in Tallahassee, he's not sure he can trust the U.S. Postal Service.

Davis, a prospective teacher at Montford Middle School, is not alone. He and others shared their concerns on Facebook about how to make sure their vote counts in this election.

In an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat, Davis said he doesn't really feel comfortable voting by mail.

Here's why: A late-submitted mail-in ballot, that is, a ballot received after the state's deadline, can result in your vote not counting.

Since 2018, mail delivery has been a point of contention for many residents, with some letters and packages arriving days or weeks late, if at all. Complaints also involve intercepted checks, stolen gift cards and more.

A personal experience with delayed mail worries Davis: “Last year, when we sent out Christmas cards, people didn't get our Christmas cards until April.”

What does this mean for the upcoming elections?

Mark Earley, Leon County's elections supervisor, told Democrats that while it had been rare in the past, there had been cases of “extraordinarily late ballots” that had “traveled all over the world.”

“We're getting ballots that come in weeks or months late,” Earley said. “I've seen ballots go all over the country when they shouldn't have … like they were sorted incorrectly … maybe they went to Indiana or Oregon instead of Jacksonville or Orlando.”

Earley's hypothesis that mail is not being sorted properly is consistent with the results of recent audits, which have found serious problems at all of the area's facilities: late mail, improper scanning of packages, problems with delivery drivers filling out time cards, and dilapidated buildings, to name a few.

As for absentee ballot requests, Earley said the number has dropped but attributed that to COVID, which has prompted many to vote by mail in recent years. This year, his office will mail out 33,000 requested ballots on July 11, Earley says.

His advice to anyone choosing to vote by mail in this election is to submit their ballot as early as possible.

If they want to avoid the mail altogether, voters can drop off their ballots in early voting boxes, cutting out the USPS as a middleman—which is how Davis will vote this year.

“It's not just me, it's not my imagination, it's not an isolated incident,” Davis said. “It's something that a lot of people have legitimate concerns about.”

Delayed and lost mail has become a Tallahassee saga

Concerns reached a new peak last November when the United States Postal Service announced it would review facilities as part of a ten-year plan to improve its postal services.

The four audit reports from various facilities serving multiple areas in Leon County and parts of the Big Bend include the Tallahassee Processing and Distribution Facility (PD&F), Westside Station, Lake Jackson Station and Leon Station.

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Voters in Tallahassee have concerns about local mail-in voting

Anna Harden

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