Mailing Deadline Approaches For Ballots In New Orleans Mayoral Election

U.S. Postal Service suggests completed ballots be mailed by May 15.

May 12, 2006, WASHINGTON – Qualified New Orleans voters displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita are being reminded by the U.S. Postal Service to mail completed absentee election ballots by Monday, May 15.

For the May 20 Orleans municipal general election, absentee ballots must be received by the Orleans registrar’s office or the Secretary of State’s office by May 19. These ballots should be mailed by Monday, May 15, to be delivered on time. Some new laws do provide for a one-day extension of these deadlines.

“We realize that a certain percentage of Louisiana voters will vote by absentee ballots,” says Delores Killette, the Postal Service’s Vice President of Consumer Affairs and Consumer Advocate. “We are committed to the residents of New Orleans, wherever they are living now. It is important that displaced residents know that we will to do our part to make sure that absentee ballots are delivered.”

Residents who are registered to vote in Louisiana and have not registered to vote in the state where they may be living temporarily can contact the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office to learn about voting by absentee ballot.

The Postal Service is working with the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Election Division to make certain the absentee ballots are distributed and received in a timely manner. Postal Service outreach efforts include placing posters publicizing absentee ballot mailing deadlines in all of the Nation’s 38,000 Post Offices; lifting the embargo on bulk rate for campaign and political mailings, making it easier for candidates to mail campaign pieces, meeting regularly with Al Ater, Louisiana Secretary of State, and his staff to support them in this absentee ballot effort, and contacting every candidate with information explaining mailing options, stressing deadlines and outlining available services and options available to them.

The Postal Service plays no role in how elections are carried out in the United States, but it is fully authorized to inform and educate election officials about USPS products and available services.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will be in Louisiana assisting in the effort to monitor the flow of absentee ballots.

Displaced voters needing additional information or an absentee ballot can contact the Louisiana Secretary of State Elections Division: 1-800-883-2805; elections@sos.louisiana.gov; or by mail:
PO BOX 94125
BATON ROUGE LA 70804-9125


Since 1775, the Postal Service and its predecessor, the Post Office Department, has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. It is an independent federal agency that visits more than 144 million homes and businesses every day and is the only service provider delivering to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of $70 billion, it is the world’s leading provider of mailing and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world’s mail volume—some 212 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year—and serves seven million customers each day at its 37,000 retail locations nationwide.

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