The price of stamps went up a few pennies today, but elections officials don’t anticipate that will prevent mail-in ballots from arriving at county offices on time.  The change is just in time for the deadline to request “Vote By Mail” ballots. 

Capital Public Radio's Steve Shadley reports... 

With the price of a first class stamp going up to 44-cents...some voters may have been caught off guard and mailed their ballots with incorrect postage. 
 
But, Sacramento Postal Service Spokesman Ralph Petty says not to worry, they’ll get to their destination... 
  
“We don’t return to sender any ballots.  We send the ballots all the way through and we deal with the postage due on the other end.  I don’t think anybody has to worry about their ballot being returned because we don’t do that...”   
 
Gail Pellerin is vice president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials.  She says counties were prepared for the rate increase... 
  
“Two cents?  I mean certainly budgets are tight but we have made arrangements with post offices statewide to cover that insufficient postage...”

Pellerin says she’s not sure how much money counties will have to pay for postage due.  She says more than one-million Vote By Mail ballots have already arrived at county offices statewide.  Nearly six-million people have requested them across California.