Richard Certo was fretting about the upcoming election for reasons that had nothing to do with Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton becoming president. He just wasn’t sure his vote would count because his wife put only one stamp on the ballot she mailed this week.

But it turns out that Certo — and thousands of voters like him — have nothing to fear.

While it may not be enough to restore many Americans’ faith in Uncle Sam, the U.S. Postal Service delivers ballots to election offices even if they have insufficient postage, then bills the counties. For obvious reasons, it’s something many county officials keep hush-hush.

“Our policy is to deliver it regardless,” Postal Service spokesman Gus Ruiz said.

That’s a relief to Certo, an Antioch resident who was confused by the ballot envelope — which on one side stated that first-class postage was required and on the other said that postage was 68 cents.

His wife ended up mailing the envelope with a single 47-cent first-class stamp affixed to it. That left Certo worried that it would get sent back to him after Election Day.

“I could just see half the population sending in the wrong amount and none of their votes getting counted,” he said.

Instead, it turns out that Certo’s wife saved him 21 cents. That’s because after Election Day, the Postal Service bills county election offices for ballots with insufficient postage. Four years ago, Contra Costa County had to pay about $5,000, said Joe Canciamilla, the county’s elections chief.

Questions about postage rates prompted him to start specifying the required amount on the ballot return envelope so voters wouldn’t have to weigh the ballot themselves. Canciamilla said his office now gets far fewer inquiries about postage.

Several Bay Area and Central Coast counties have made postage a non-issue by covering the cost themselves. Returning a ballot by mail is free for San Franciscans as well as residents of Santa Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. The cost varies in Alameda County, depending on the size of the ballot.

Santa Clara County began pre-paying postage last year in a bid to encourage more people to vote by mail, said Anita Torres, spokeswoman for the county’s Registrar of Voters. The November election is expected to cost significantly more than the $186,634 spent on postage for the June primary, which had smaller ballots and fewer voters.

Canciamilla said it’s up to county supervisors to decide whether they want to spend the “several hundred thousand dollars” needed to foot the bill for the absentee ballots in a county where more than 60 percent of residents now vote by mail.

As for anyone with postage concerns, he said, “They can avoid the question altogether by using one of our conveniently located drop boxes.”