ATLANTA — The Georgia Secretary of State's Office said postal problems are affecting absentee ballots. They plan to raise those concerns at a meeting this week with USPS election mail officials.
Voters like Nikole Ridley is still feeling the disappointment from this year's presidential preference primary. She's not upset over the candidates on the ballot, but rather her lack of receiving the envelope altogether.
"It was heartbreaking to me, even though they say it's the primary and there's only two people running so it's either or," she said. "It made me feel like a kick in the gut just happened to me because I always do my best to vote every time. I've been in Georgia 20 years and I've maybe missed one due to work."
This election cycle would raise that number to two. Even though records from the Georgia Secretary of State's Office show she was issued an absentee ballot on March 1, Ridley didn't receive it until March 13 — a day after the primary took place.
"I just felt like something was just taken away from me," she said. "It's a right that was fought for, a right that we should all have as American citizens and it was taken away from me."
11Alive heard from voters across metro Atlanta who expressed similar frustrations over absentee ballots that did not arrive in a timely fashion or at all. Many of them blamed the new USPS facility in Palmetto.
"Since those are sent first class with the election mail logo, they should be delivered within three days," Cobb County Elections Director Tate Fall said. "That's obviously not what's happening."
Fall said she's aware of a number of problems with important voting information getting delayed or lost in the mail this cycle.
"We started noticing a delay in ballots. They'd be postmarked and then we'd get them a week, two weeks later. We also noticed a big issue when we sent out our precinct cards," she said. "Those were dropped in the mail from our vendor on March 3, and most voters didn't get them until the day before, the day of, the day after the election — and some voters still haven't gotten them."
She wants to coordinate a meeting with USPS leaders and other local election directors to ensure these problems don't persist into the May election cycle.
"We were seeing such incredible delays. It's pretty alarming... any delay in getting those ballots could cost their vote not to be counted," Fall warned. "It's important that every voter has the opportunity to vote. Election day is no longer one day here in Georgia."
Of the five voters who contacted 11Alive about absentee ballot problems, only one successfully returned a ballot by mail. Three others did not vote at all; one was able to cast their ballot in-person, records show.
"It seems that these voters applied for absentee ballots properly, and the counties processed and issued them in a timely manner," a spokesperson told 11Alive. "This appears to be an issue with the US Postal Service, which in that case we would remind voters to sign up for BallotTrax to know exactly when their ballots will arrive and track each step in the postal system."
The Georgia Secretary of State's Office said the National Association of Secretaries of State has a postal service task force that regularly provides updates to elections officials. The next call is scheduled for Thursday with USPS Election Mail officials to mitigate and proactively address potential concerns.
11Alive reached out to USPS Tuesday morning with concerns from voters and election officials. They have not yet responded.
Those experiencing delays or who have not received mail can contact the newsroom with your concerns as we continue to cover this story. Fill out our online form below, and someone from our news team will follow up with you.