College Students' Absentee Ballots Unsent - Because Stamps are Hard

Ferlon Webster Jr. | September 21, 2018
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Have you ever tried to to mail a letter without a stamp or maybe without using the postal service? No? Neither have I.   

According to a focus group, young people in Fairfax County, VA have been failing to mail in their absentee ballots in because they lack the knowledge on the process of mailing a letter. They will obtain and fill out the absentee ballots, but those ballots never get sent in. 

Because the most important part of sending a letter is beyond their grasp.

What could they not understand about mailing a letter? The answer, according to county officials is they have no idea where to find a stamp. 

On Tuesday, a focus group was held for college interns from various county departments in Fairfax County, VA.  According to Business Insider, a Virginia official said, “they are noticing a disturbing trend: young people failing to mail in their absentee ballots because they don't know how to get a stamp.”

Lisa Connors, who works for the Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs ran the focus group this summer and mentioned, “One thing that came up, which I had heard from my own kids but I thought they were just nerdy, was that the students will go through the process of applying for a mail-in absentee ballot, they will fill out the ballot, and then, they don't know where to get stamps," Connors told WTOP. "That seems to be like a hump that they can't get across."

Just in case you are a part of this group, here is some advice on where to find a stamp.  Go to the post office! Or more conveniently, go the US Postal Service’s website or Stamps.com.  If you do this, you can mail that absentee ballot that has been so difficult for you to get out of your hands.

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