Cost, Hassle of Stamps Questioned as Mail-in Voting Surges

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — As more states embrace mail-in balloting, an often overlooked detail has emerged as a partisan dividing line: postage.

Questions over whether to require postage for absentee ballot applications and the ballots themselves, who pays for it and what happens to envelopes without stamps are the subject of lawsuits and statehouse political brawls.

Lawsuits in Florida, Georgia and other states argue that stamps constitute a monetary requirement akin to a poll tax. Voting-rights groups say they're just another impediment to voting.

The debate has become vehement in Ohio, where legislation would explicitly prohibit the state’s elections chief from pre-paying postage.