Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A Cautionary Lesson For Philly Absentee Voters

A family member living in the 19111 area code of Philadelphia applied for an absentee ballot from the registration office at 520 Delaware Avenue, and it was delivered to her location not long ago. The self-addressed return envelope to the Philadelphia Elections Office at 142 City Hall that accompanied the ballot showed that no postage was required, so the ballot was completed and mailed back without it. However, the envelope with the ballot was returned to her home address a few days after it was mailed.

A call to the Elections Office at 142 City Hall resulted in the discovery that postage is indeed required for the self-addressed return envelopes, even though they indicate that no postage is required if the envelope is mailed within the U.S.

So, if you live in Philadelphia and are mailing an absentee ballot to the elections office in City Hall, postage must be included even though the return envelope indicates otherwise. Hopefully, spreading this knowledge will result in fewer mixups and lost absentee ballots.

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