“Military ballots should be postmarked regardless of whether postage is paid.”
What for? A postmark is there to indicate that the postage for a letter/package was paid to the USPS and when. Military mail travels free.
The military ballots that were rejected in Florida were sealed, signed and dated by the soldier and his superior officer. That is a good as a postmark from the standpoint of a time stamp — unless you believe that postal clerks are more honorable than members of the US military.
As I understand it, the military postal service postmarks the mail.
Please remind people who have never been in the military, never been a military dependant, or been a military mail recipient, that military mail MAY travel “free” but it still needs to be postmarked.
As a military dependent, I sent packages to CONUS through the APO and they were POSTMARKED! When I received mail as a Navy wife, the letters were POSTMARKED! When I sent mail to my grandson in the War Zone recently, they were POSTMARKED! All of the above had to be PAID FOR by someone. That someone was me.
How they were sent, from the time I paid the postage until the time they were received (or vice versa) only the military USPS service can tell you. If an item travels in the USPS system, regardless of origin or destination, POSTAGE MUST BE PAID!
That’s why stamps were invented.