Following Too Closely: Received Notice of Decision Postmarked After 20 Day Window for Trial De Novo

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California

I had a tailgating case that I submitted for a trial by written declaration for Los Angeles County. This was in July and I just received back the notice of decision stating a guilty verdict and that the court's decision was entered on Sept 2 and that I had 20 days from that date to submit a request for trial de novo (which I had intended to do if I had lost this case). The thing is is that the notice is postmarked Sept 23 which I feel is clearly intentional as to prevent me from submitting the request for trial de novo. Is there anything I can do about this to reverse the ruling based on those grounds?

Thanks

Following Too Closely: Received Notice of Decision Postmarked After 20 Day Window for Trial De Novo