BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) The cash-strapped United States Postal Service is facing a new financial struggle related to the mailing of absentee ballots.
Some voters have been mailing their ballots with a 45-cent stamp, 20-cents short of what is required for the mailings. The 65-cent cost of mailing an absentee ballot in Massachusetts is marked clearly on the state elections website.
A spokesperson from the USPS tells FOX 25 they'll send the ballot anyway. Election mail is identified specifically and treated as "high priority."
According to the Postal Service, they handled 22 million ballots in 2008 across the nation and 10.5 million in 2010.
The USPS expects to handle over 25 million ballots in 2012. They don't track mailed ballots according to municipality or state, but FOX 25 has learned that Boston has sent out over 8,000 absentee ballots including residents from overseas.
Numbers for the state were not made available on Wednesday afternoon.
USPS officials say any deficit in postage cost can be charged back to the state. The elections office says that they'll pay it.
The USPS says use common sense. If a letter looks larger than normal, put on more postage and contact your local elections office.
On Tuesday, FOX Business reported that the USPS has hit its $15 billion borrowing limit for the first time ever. This means that they will have to rely on revenues from stamps and other products to fund its operations.
