# USPS dramatically changes how postmarks work **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178 "2025-12-30T21:40:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/1 "2025-12-30T21:40:36Z")
The United States Postal Service will soon no longer be applying postmarks at the moment mail is dropped off. Soon, it will be applied when first run through the machine at the regional sorting center. > **[USPS changed postmark rules; why your mail could be late now](https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2025/12/29/what-are-new-postal-service-changes-2026-usps-postmark-postage-stamp-cost-post-office-mail-delivery/87943589007/)** > > What is new at the post office in 2026? Here's what to know about Postal Service changes in postmark process, postage stamps and USPS shipping rates Why is this a big deal? Because it will be used to determine whether bills, rent, and _mail-in ballots_ are considered late. So start mailing in your ballots _very early_ from now on. They’re trying to screw things over again. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/2 "2025-12-30T21:43:12Z")
> [@USPS Changes Postmark Date System. Why This is Bad](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-changes-postmark-date-system-why-this-is-bad/1026168): > > So the US Postal Service has now changed its processing rules such that the postmark on any mail received by the USPS will no longer be dated according to the date or receipt, but rather by the date of processing. Sounds tedious and administrative, yes? [Except](https://www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com/blog/2025/12/8/usps-changes-to-postmark-date-system-taking-effect-december-24-2025)… Which will obviously have an impact on people mailing in their tax returns at the last minute but also opens the door for a lot of jiggery-fuckery around postal voting. Want to mail your vote in? Then you better hope you live somewher… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/3 "2025-12-30T21:44:33Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > So start mailing in your ballots _very early_ from now on. Or, if you have the time and ability, bring them into a post office and hand them to someone at the desk so they get post marked when you drop them off. Also, WRT ballots, again, if you have the time and ability, bring them directly to your local city hall. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/4 "2025-12-30T22:40:44Z")
I seldom see a postmark on mail at all now, and if there is it seldom tells you anything. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/5 "2025-12-31T00:33:18Z")
Huh? What do you mean? Please explain. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/6 "2025-12-31T00:57:42Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Also, WRT ballots, again, if you have the time and ability, bring them directly to your local city hall. Dropboxes aren’t entirely safe either, especially if they’re not inside a protected and staffed building… people will occasionally set them on fire: [Ballot drop boxes set on fire in Oregon, Washington sparking chaos](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/10/29/ballot-boxes-fire-oregon-washington/75916577007/) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/7 "2025-12-31T05:27:51Z")
I should’ve been clearer, when I bring my ballot to city hall, I do it while they’re open so I can hand it directly to someone or, as they’ve done the past few elections, have me scan it right into the machine. If it’s ballots or checks\*, they’re either being handed to someone or an _indoor_ drop box/mailbox. \*At work, I’ve had checks stolen out of the mail and used to make new checks on two separate occasions with two separate accounts. So no more checks dropped in random mailboxes. They get handed directly to our carrier or brought inside a post office. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/8 "2025-12-31T14:34:58Z")
Just a side note, the place to drop your ballot off might or might not actually be “city hall”. Around here (Ohio), for instance, the appropriate place would be the county board of elections (which, since it’s run by the county, isn’t anywhere near any of the City Halls in the county). City Hall might have voting-day polling places (my polling place is in my suburb’s City Hall), and if there are ballot drop-boxes, there might be one there, but it’s not the final destination for the ballots. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/9 "2025-12-31T14:56:45Z")
Yeah, it varies a lot by state and sometimes by county. Ballot security, both in terms of a collection point and also what happens to it afterward, as in a chain of custody, will differ quite a bit from place to place. In some, there’s a lot of opportunity for malfeasance… ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/10 "2025-12-31T19:40:19Z")
When I was growing up there was a tradition that the mail post office in Philly would stay open till midnight on March 15 to postmark tax returns. I wonder if it still is. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/11 "2025-12-31T21:46:24Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > midnight on March 15 to postmark tax returns. I read somewhere that it used to be March 15, but it has been April 15 for the very long time that I have been filing tax returns. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-dramatically-changes-how-postmarks-work/1026178/12 "2026-01-03T17:49:20Z")
I just received a Christmas card from North Carolina. The stamp is not canceled. There’s no hint of a mark at all. It’s not the first time that I’ve received a card from the U.S. which does not include any cancellation mark / postmark. Not sure how that happens, but I wonder what the implications are for mailed items where the postmark date is important. Of course, if the mailed item is received before the due date, then there’s no issue. I was especially interested in the cancellation date as it seems that mail is taking longer to go across the pond. Also an issue for me when I vote, as I have to return the ballot via mail.