‘It can’t be done’: US voter struggles to mail ballot from France

A US citizen living in Nice said she is struggling to send her ballot after staff at two La Poste offices told her they could not mail her letter to the US. 

“As a US citizen living in France I still want to participate in US elections and I have the right to do that,” an American reader, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Connexion. “I consider this election critical for the future of the US.”

Part of the issue is that her state required voters living overseas to return their ballots by post.

“Each state decides if they require ballots to be mailed by people living abroad or if an online ballot can work,” she said. “For this reason many of us are dependent on the French postal service to mail our ballots. And obviously there are deadlines.”

She first tried to send her ballot at a La Poste office in Nice during the last week of September.

After queuing, she showed the employee at the counter her envelope and asked for postage to send it to the US.

The employee called over two colleagues, but after checking the computer they told her they could not provide postage for the envelope. One suggested paying extra for tracking, but she declined. 

“The final answer was that mailing the envelope to the US ‘can’t be done’,” she said.

“I was puzzled and admittedly a bit annoyed. I walked away thinking, ‘What is a post office? A place where you can mail anything anywhere. But not today!’”

Assuming the problem was limited to that particular office, she went to another La Poste branch the following day but received the same answer. 

“Now I had no solution for the simple task of mailing an envelope to the US.”

‘The problem persists’

The reader then contacted the US consulate in France and organisations that assist Americans voting from abroad.

She said one organisation told her the difficulties were linked to restrictions on shipping goods to the US following tariffs. 

However, she said she was told this should apply to packages rather than ordinary letters containing documents.

A representative from Democrats Abroad also told her that the Embassy and consulates were aware of problems and that there had been discussions with La Poste about resolving them.

She said the US consulate suggested she could take her ballot to the consulate in Marseille. However, travelling there was not a realistic solution.

The consulate also told her that she could print the information La Poste has on its website regarding sending mail to the US and take it to a post office.

“That option also felt like too much of a burden,” she said.

“My thought is that it is not my job to educate the staff at La Poste. I don’t have the time or French language skills to do that and I doubt they would be receptive anyway.”

How US voters can send ballots

A voter assistance volunteer trained by VoteFromAbroad said that Americans facing similar problems should avoid trying to mail their ballot through the La Poste counter or kiosk.

Instead, voters can buy international stamps at a La Poste office or create a postage label online through La Poste, making sure they have the correct amount of postage for the weight of their envelope.

She said her own 23g ballot cost about €4.90 to send.

Once the correct postage has been added, the envelope can be dropped into a La Poste mailbox.

The volunteer said some La Poste employees may still be confused about the rules following restrictions on packages sent to the US, but that letters and documents can still be mailed from France.

Whether a voter can use an alternative method, such as faxing or emailing a ballot, depends on the rules in their state.

Another option the reader shared was to select Canada as the destination when using the machine, as the US may not appear as an available destination. The envelope should still be addressed normally to the US as the destination. 

For her though, the practical advice has not changed her concerns about why voters have to navigate these workarounds in the first place.

“Voters are now being advised about how to work around the La Poste ‘confusion’. This is unacceptable. La Poste is interfering with US citizens’ right to vote while in France. Why can’t we mail directly to the US instead of pretending we are mailing our ballot to Canada?”

Despite the difficulties she said she remains determined to vote.

“It is my responsibility to take the time to investigate the candidates and issues and then vote,” she said.