on Election Day at our polling site (a branch of the NY Public Library) rather than worry about it getting lost in the mail. NY only starts counting absentee ballots after Election Day so also less time for it to get lost at the Board of Elections office.
I’ve worked at polling sites on Election Day and know the process for securing everything such as the flashdrives from scanners being locked into multiple bags like Russian dolls and being transported to the Board of Elections office by an NYPD officer. So much counting, filling out forms, checks and balances and making sure all the numbers match, accounting for every single numbered ballot we handled and color-coded sealing, etc. I doubt the average voter knows how much work election workers do. The polls closed at 9 and it often took until midnight to get everything wrapped up and secured properly before we all could leave. I trust those election workers to secure and transfer the dropped off absentee ballots more than I trust the US Postal Service.
