Thread by @AK_OK

With all the concern about slow mail delivery and slow absentee ballots this year, I checked to see whether this year's ballots were slower than normal. The answer? No. (thread) adn.com/politics/2020/… #akelect #akleg

This year's absentee ballots arrived at the Division of Elections proportionally *earlier* than they did in the 2016 and 2018 primaries. #akelect #akleg

The folks at @ak_elections record ballot arrival dates and the dates they sent them out (and the date that a request for an absentee ballot was received), making this analysis possible. #akelect #akleg

But I did find something that I wasn't expecting when I did this analysis. The busiest days for ballot arrivals are *after* election day. That's allowed under state law, but given that the Postal Service delivers in-state election mail in less than 5 days ... #akleg #akelect

... that's a sign that people are waiting until the last minute to mail their ballots. That's a potential problem because while ballots can *arrive* after election day, they need to be *postmarked* by election day. #akleg #akelect

The USPS told me that postmarking ballots is done by default in Anchorage, regardless of where in Alaska you are. That means if you send your ballot on Election Day, there's a risk that it won't be postmarked until the following day. #akleg #akelect

If that happens, your vote won't count. We know this happens. Late postmarks were the No. 2 reason for rejected ballots in this year's primary, and in John Coghill's 14-vote loss, many ballots had late postmarks despite being signed on election day. #akleg #akelect

When I asked him what folks should know, he said that Alaskans should know that if they vote in Fairbanks by mail, they should send their ballots in earlier. That's something I think all Alaskans should know. #akleg #akelect adn.com/politics/2020/…