Update 9:20am CT, Nov. 2: When reached for comment, a USPS spokesperson told the Daily Dot in a statement via email that the customer did not follow “official ballot instructions,“ which is why the worker did not accept her mail-in ballot.
“The item presented was not a secure, addressed mailpiece and therefore was not accepted for mailing. Our employee tried to assist the voter by offering an envelope for sale and further to provide tape to affix the address to the envelope but that offer was turned down by the customer. At that time, the customer had no further business, was disruptive to our business, other customers and their privacy, so she was asked to leave,” the spokesperson said.
Original story: A woman says a Smokey Point, Wash. USPS worker refused to take her mail-in ballot, claiming he said he could “refuse service to anyone” in a now-viral TikTok. She believes that this was an attempt at “voter interference.”
In the video posted by TikToker Jenn Marie (@_jenn_marie_) on Oct. 25, she stands outside of the USPS branch and shows the pre-paid mail-in ballot envelope that was rejected at the counter.
“Tell me you live in MAGA country, without telling me you live in MAGA country,” she says in the clip. “I am actually a resident of the state of Pennsylvania because my wife is in the Navy. So I have to vote absentee.”
She continues to state that the worker said he “has the right to refuse service to anyone, so you’re going to have to take that somewhere else” when she tried to submit her mail-in ballot.
The caption reads, “Sir, I will literally buy a plane ticket to PA before you stifle my vote.”
@_jenn_marie_ Sir I will literally buy a plane ticket to PA before you stifle my vote. #vote #FomotionalFinds #usps @United States Postal Service #pnw #washington #militaryfamily #militarywife #audacity ♬ original sound – Jenn Marie
The video has reached over 4.8 million views as of Nov. 1, with commenters encouraging her to reach out to the Post Master General to file a complaint.
“They can’t refuse service if they aren’t a private business. Call the postmaster general and file a complaint. And call your local news,” one user suggested.
“Call the postmaster asap!!! And call the local news stations & let them know what is going on. If they’re doing it to you, they’re doing it to others,” another said.
In a series of response videos to comments asking for more context, Jenn Marie explains that she couldn’t drop her ballot in a mailbox because she didn’t have the correct “envelope” and was instructed by workers at a different USPS to go to the Smokey Point location because they ran out.
“He pretended these envelopes did not exist, when in fact I knew they existed because one, it says that they exist, and two, the guy at the other post office said they existed,” she explains.
@_jenn_marie_ Replying to @emmalou326 I mean… 🤷🏻♀️ #vote #usps #mailinballots ♬ original sound – Jenn Marie
In an additional update video, Jenn Marie says that she returned to the Smokey Point USPS branch to get the worker’s “side of the story” but was instructed to call an employee named “Lisha.”
“So, I just got off the phone with Lisha, and I’m very confused about a lot of things,” she says. “She told you she didn’t know who I was but told me that she watched all of my TikTok videos. And then she also told me that they hadn’t yet talked to the post office employee.”
@_jenn_marie_ Replying to @toastiecrunchi last one for today. I’m mentally exhausted by this but not giving up. #vote #usps #votebymail #mailinballots ♬ original sound – Jenn Marie
Despite being refused service at the Smokey Point USPS branch, Jenn Marie says she was eventually able to mail in her ballot it at the Everett, Wash. USPS location.
The Daily Dot reached out to Jenn Marie via TikTok comment.
