Effective September 8, 2020, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), section 703.8.3, regarding absent overseas uniformed services voters using Priority Mail Express® Label 11-DOD without prepaying postage to return absentee ballots.
Absent overseas uniformed services voters, as defined in 52 U.S.C. § 20304(d), may return absentee ballots from an overseas U.S. Military Post Office (APO/FPO) location, Diplomatic Post Office (DPO), or U.S. Department of State (DOS) location by using Priority Mail Express Label 11-DOD without prepaying postage. This revision is intended to make the DMM consistent with other Postal Service resource material and existing statutory provisions.
Although the Postal Service will not publish these revisions in the DMM until September 8, 2020, the standards are effective immediately.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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700 Special Standards
703 Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail and Other Unique Eligibility
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8.0 Balloting Materials
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8.3 Priority Mail Express Label 11-DOD
[Revise the text of 8.3 to read as follows:]
Absent overseas uniformed services voters, as defined in 52 U.S.C. § 20304(d), may return absentee ballots from overseas APO/FPO military locations, DPO locations, or Department of State (DOS) locations by using Priority Mail Express Label 11-DOD without prepaying postage. Absentee ballots prepared with Label 11-DOD affixed for return by absent overseas uniformed services voters from overseas APO/FPO military locations and DPO/DOS locations are exempt from the marking and verification standards in 8.1.3 through 8.1.5.
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The Postal Service will incorporate this revision into the next edition of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Marketing, 7-30-20
