Can your choice of stamp invalidate your vote?

That worry was expressed Thursday by staff at the state Board of Elections at a meeting where commissioners were told of the potential problem with a type of stamp that doesn’t generate a traditional postmark.

The lack of a postmark could void various types of voting documents, including voter registration forms and absentee ballots, that are mailed but not received by deadlines set by the board. New York is one of a handful of states that according to election law must accept voter mail according to the date sent as opposed to the date received.

The U.S. Postal Service sells the “forever” stamp in question through vending machines and other print-on-demand services. It “features a unique information-based indicia barcode … in lieu of a postage amount,” according to a USPS product description.

While the stamp comes with “a human-readable purchase date,” it generates no human-readable postmark when it moves through the system because it’s not printed with the special fluorescent ink used in traditional stamps.

via A voting risk in forever stamps  -Times Union