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So we need to educate people: you do need the Postal Service to receive your mail-in or absentee ballot but you do NOT need the Postal Service to deliver, ie vote, that same ballot. Can return to local elections office any time, or an in person early voting location, or drop box
Not every state has drop boxes, but every state has local elections offices, and all but 5 have early voting. If you want to get your ballot well ahead of the election, vote it at your leisure, and then return it in person without waiting in line, choose one of those 3 options
Your state elections office or secretary of state's website should have addresses for your local elections office, as well as info about when early voting starts and where to go. Drop box info is a bit harder to find, but I'm reporting on that & will continue to.
So yes, the Postal Service may be too slow to get a ballot from you to your state elections officials, but if you request it early, you can still vote before Election Day and likely without standing in line. That's the hack to the problem in this story https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/usps-states-delayed-mail-in-ballots/2020/08/14/64bf3c3c-dcc7-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html
In Ohio, it was reported that @FrankLaRose would limit drop boxes to one per county. But LaRose spokesman Jon Keeling told Yahoo News that the SOS “is absolutely supportive of additional drop boxes, but we need legislation to get that done.” https://news.yahoo.com/you-dont-need-the-us-postal-service-to-vote-your-mail-in-ballot-210121973.html
You can get your ballot by mail well ahead of the election (request it as early as possible) & return it in person before the election as well -- avoiding having to rely on the #USPS in most states to actually vote. https://news.yahoo.com/you-dont-need-the-us-postal-service-to-vote-your-mail-in-ballot-210121973.html
Only 2 states do not allow you to turn in your mail-in/absentee ballot by hand or in person: Mississippi and Tennessee. A third, Texas, only allows you to do it on Election Day. https://news.yahoo.com/you-dont-need-the-us-postal-service-to-vote-your-mail-in-ballot-210121973.html
Another way for Americans to step up for democracy is to volunteer as Election workers if you can, and preferably if you are young. That's a big way to help avoid closure of polling places, which produce long lines, which keep some voters away. Sign up as early as possible!
You can also check whether you're registered to vote here no matter which state you live in. https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/
from my sister: "What if bigger corporations got in on this and agreed to pay their workers to be volunteers for that day? It’s not a political statement, it’s just an interest in democracy right? Is that crazy?"
Me: "It's not."
Me: "It's not."
I've found at least one state where you can pick up an absentee ballot at your local office and vote it there as well: Maine. "Absentee ballots are available at least 30 days before the election at the municipal clerk's office.” Clerk locations here: https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/munic.html
