The Postal Service™ recognizes that elections are essential to our system of government. We are proud of our role in the election process as well as the relationships we have with election officials.
Each state establishes by law the rules and requirements for ballot submission, including ballot-submission deadlines and the role, if any, that postmarks play in determining whether a ballot was timely. In the normal course of operations, the Postal Service does not postmark, or “cancel” every piece of mail in the system. The primary purpose of cancellation is to ensure that postage cannot be reused, and some categories of postage are precanceled before they enter the mailstream.
In recognition of the importance that the election laws in some states place on postmarks, it has been the longstanding policy of the Postal Service to try to ensure that every return ballot mailed by voters receives a postmark, whether the return ballot is mailed with postage pre-paid by election officials or with a stamp affixed by the voter. A voter can ensure that a postmark is applied to his or her return ballot by visiting a Postal Service retail office and requesting a postmark from a retail associate when dropping off the ballot.
Figures 1, 2, and 3
Sample Postmarks (Images not to scale)
