CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — The primary election in Cherokee County is two months away, but if you want to make sure your vote counts, you need to get your absentee ballot as soon as possible because of mail delays.
The primary is May 21, but if you normally use absentee ballots, you should go to the elections office and ask for an application, fill it out, and make sure it’s physically at the office by May 10 at midnight.
Eric Orsburm is a business owner in Cherokee County who uses the US Postal Service daily. He knows all about the problems that stem from the grand opening of this new sorting facility in Palmetto, but he said USPS has had problems for the past few years.
" I can have a client drop a check in the mail across Atlanta and it takes two months to get to me in Kennesaw. And so how are we supposed to expect that they will get the ballots where they need to go in time to be counted?” Orsburm said. “And the Palmetto sorting issue just adds on top of that. It compounds the issue.”
The new issue is getting absentee ballots through the mail in time to count for the May 21 primary. Elections officials encourage everyone to get their ballot now and to turn it in as soon as possible.
USPS issued a statement about getting ballots delivered on time:
“We have a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling and delivery of all election mail, including ballots.”
Ellis Seawright is an eBay seller. He said the mail delays are affecting his livelihood. He doesn’t believe USPS is moving fast enough, and has no faith in using them to send a ballot when they can’t even communicate about packages.
“They weren’t even scanning them in, so it looked like it wasn’t even in the system, moving,” Seawright said. “And then they just get it delivered out of nowhere, but the tracking, there’s no tracking along the way.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff sent the postmaster general a letter last week asking about the issues and when they will be resolved, as well as about communication between USPS and its customers.