If you are like me, and tend to discount about half of what the news reports say about the upcoming election process, check out what recently happened to my father’s mail-in ballot.
He moved into an assisted living facility this past summer and contacted the Lincoln County Election Board for a mail-in ballot. My family has always been very politically aware. None of us would ever skip voting. I received the ballot and took it to him for his signature and witnesses. I carefully followed all the enclosed instructions and mailed it.
Seven days later, it came back to me with a label slapped on the front reading “Undeliverable to this address”, meaning the address already printed on the return envelope to the Election Board.
I immediately called the Election Board and told them what had happened.
They were very surprised and asked me a couple of questions like “did you put postage on it?” I told them all instructions were followed to the letter. The woman I spoke to said to bring it to her at the courthouse in Chandler.
I drove there and gave it to her and she told me they had had over 230 calls that day about ballots that were returned to people for the same reason. She had no idea why it happened as she verified that the address on the envelope was correct.
She assured me that my father’s vote would be counted as she would personally see to it. She also told me she was contacting the Postmasters in Tulsa and OKC to find out what the problem was.
Apparently mail from Stroud to Chandler goes to both cities before getting to it’s destination 12 miles away- another issue entirely, but this kind of inefficiency may be why the USPS has run out of money.
This incident made me realizemaybe this election really is being sabotaged by the most unexpected sources. A very sobering thought.
I’ll definitely be voting in person, WEARING A MASK!!!!
(Oklahoma is still double the national average and the 3 rd highest state in the US in new COVID-19 cases! JUST WEAR IT!!!)
Luann Williams, Stroud
September 30, 2020