Back in October 2018, the Trump Administration quietly gave an official 1 year notice to withdraw from the international postal system agreement (aka the “Universal Postal Union”), because of Trump’s refusal to pay our annual membership dues.
” As required under the Union’s constitution, the announcement and notice to the UPU initiated a one-year withdrawal process during which the United States can renegotiate terms before the exit becomes final on October 17, 2019. ”
So, as of October 17, 2019, mail service between the USA & Mexico ~may~ change, because the Trump Administration has refused to negotiate, so far.
It may not be a big deal to some people, but all of our US soldiers, sailors & Air Force personnel serving abroad … and all other people living abroad … may lose their avenue to vote absentee … raising concerns of yet more voter suppression in time for the 2020 elections.
Since the USA has our troops stationed in over 75% of the world’s countries, this latest Trump Administration change seems to presents challenges to man of our troop’s opportunities to vote, because the Trump Administration has announced no plans for allowing our troops to vote, when serving abroad.
??
We’ll publish more updates, as the news becomes available.
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FIRST UPDATE:
A bit more research shows that we may want to plan to take our absentee ballots to a US Consulate, here in Mexico, for the 2020 election.
Happy Trails, Steve
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Read on, MacDuff.
Surviving Yucatan 
While I think it scandolous that Trump admin refuses to negotiate on this mail convention, I found voting by mail from from here to be useless and invalid, as our absentee ballots took two months to arrive, having been postmarked in US in early October, getting here in December.
So now we request an absentee ballot by email, and return the bailot by US post (bring US stamps with us), hand carried for mailing by someone going north. (I’ll never attempt to get or send an absentee ballot thru Mexican mail again.) I’ve actually gotten Christmas cards from up north in July!
Yow! I knew it was bad, but that’s awful!
This is horrid, as you said, especially for people in the military, peace corps, or stationed for work overseas.
I’m really sorry for all affected.
We get our ballots by email (from Texas) and after we complete them, deliver them to the US Consulate in Guadalajara. They are supposed to air freight their mailbag to the USA on a regular weekly basis to be placed in the USPS system for handling.
Gotta submit that envelope early though (by Oct 23’rd), because that Diplomatic pouch goes to the US Embassy in Mexico City (sits there in Embassy handling??) and then goes to … Kansas City … (more sitting-waiting before going into the US Mail) … and then our US mail system has to move it from KC, to your home County (yet another delay) …
You can still use a private mail service like we have in the Ribera de Chapala, Mx. They will take your mail postmarked with US stamps that you can buy at their location and they will deliver it to a place in Laredo, Texas which will place the mail in US Mail Post Office boxes and delivered to their destination. I voted last 2016 thru this method and I check with the Supervisor of Elections in my Florida Co, and they confirmed that it was received. Whether it was counted or not that is another question. The idiot still won by hook or crook.
Rolly, could you share the name of the private mail service in Chapala please?
We always bring ours to the US consulate
Trump has a point with the UPU. The current method of computing international mail rates allows Chinese exporters to air mail goods to the USA well below the cost of domestic US rates. So it is far cheaper to mail from China than for a U.S. business to send mail within the USA. If such rates
ever made sense, no longer does.