This is probably no surprise to contributors, interns or anyone who works with me at the newspaper, but I’m not immune to procrastination. On my worst days, I chalk delays up to the workload. On my better ones I just shut the fuck up and get all the blogs, editing, print coding, invoicing, emails, etc. done—or at least as “done” as tasks-in-the-pandemic-age can be. That’s why I had to pedal my way from Tampa Heights to the county center downtown before work today (Tuesday, Aug. 18). That’s where I dropped my mail-in ballot for the primary election—one that was mailed to me on July 9, more than a month ago—into that big black box along with every other ballot belonging to someone who waited to bubble in choices like I did.
As Michelle Obama pointed out at the first-ever virtual Democratic National Convention, you can’t procrastinate on your mail-in ballot for November’s general election. She even urged us, pandemic be damned, to vote in-person if we’re capable (scary, right?).
As a side note, you must be registered to vote by October 5 if you want to cast a vote against Trump. Putin can help you out if you want to Keep America Great without a voter card (jokes, but not really).
In a recent op-ed, United States Postal Service executives tried to assure voters that the USPS can handle a barrage of election mail. But with reported mail delays in South Florida, folks are understandably worried that the president's efforts to have his new megadonor Postmaster General Louis DeJoy create chaos could leave their vote uncounted—which is a goddamn, inexcusable, capital S-H-A-M-E. Plus, some locals have experienced delays receiving everyday mail—including important items like unemployment checks.
“One resident currently staying out of state apparently told [U.S. Rep. Kathy] Castor that their mail ballot for the Aug. 18 primary was sent from the county elections office on July 29—but as of Aug. 13 had still not arrived,” the Tampa Bay Times wrote.
In an email to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, Julie Marcus, Pinellas County’s Supervisor of Elections—a 17-year Pinellas Elections Office vet who was appointed to the role in May by Gov. Ron DeSantis—said that voting by mail is a safe and secure way for voters to cast a ballot in the age of COVID-19.
“My office is doing everything possible to encourage voters to vote in the comfort and safety of their own homes—by using mail ballots,” Marcus added. Her office is paying for First Class postage and strategically playing 24 mail-in ballot drop-off locations throughout the county for those who want to hand deliver their votes.
“More than 90% of the county is within three miles of a ballot-drop off location,” Marcus wrote. “Deputized election workers will ensure the security of your ballot and bring it back to my office to be tabulated.”
Stil, Marcus advised that “voters who wish to mail their ballot back to us, [should] do so one week prior to the elections.”
Our Informed Dissent columnist wrote that, “In any other administration, you could dismiss the uproar over the election-season evisceration of the U.S. Postal Service as a low-grade conspiracy theory. But nothing in the last four years suggests Trump warrants the benefit of the doubt, especially when his lackeys’ inexplicable decisions align so perfectly with his personal agenda.”
He’s not wrong, and we’re probably going to write about the mail-in ballot issue more in the next 70 days, but Trump is cooking up his perfect storm—and we all better make our hurricane plan.
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This article appears in Aug 20-26, 2020.