Election Mail and Political Mail Overview

Election Mail is any item mailed to or from authorized election officials that enables citizens to participate in the voting process, such as ballots, sample ballots, voter registration cards, absentee ballot applications, and polling place notifications.

What is Political Mail?

Political Mail is any material mailed for campaign purposes by a registered political candidate, campaign committee, or committee of a political party, as well as any material mailed by a political action committee or organization engaging in issues advocacy or voter mobilization.

2024 Election Mail and Political Mail Plan

The Postal Service 2024 Election and Political Mail Plan coordinates strategy with key organizational priorities. The plan objectives are to:

n Educate and inform the public on proper mail handling, key dates, and operational guidelines for Election Mail and Political Mail.

n Reinforce the message that the Postal Service is deeply committed to its job of delivering Election Mail, including ballots.

n Ensure the correct use of the Official Election Mail logo. It may be used on all Election Mail, including ballots created for federal, state, and local government elections.

n Inform election officials that ballots will be handled correctly. Educate the officials on what to expect when using the mail so they can ensure ballots are mailed and returned by their state’s deadline.

n Remind election officials and their mail service providers of the importance of using Service Type Identifiers (STIDs) and Ballot Mail checkbox, especially for ballots, to improve Ballot Mail visibility within the automation environment.

n Ensure Postal Service employees know that they must always promptly and efficiently handle Election Mail with equal care and attention.

n Ensure the correct use of Tag 191, Domestic and International Ballots. Postal Service employees must correctly identify and promptly process this mail. Tag 191 may not be used for sample ballots.

n Ensure the correct use of Tag 57, Political Campaign Mailing. Political Message Mail (mailings from certain groups, including issue advocacy or voter mobilization) and Political Campaign Mail (mailings from certain groups or individuals related to a candidate, campaign, or referendum) may both use Tag 57.

Key Messages

Mail is an increasingly important part of U.S. elections. Throughout the 2024 election cycle, it’s important to keep the following in mind:

n The Postal Service is committed to fulfilling its role in the electoral process for those public policy makers who choose to use the mail as part of their election system or when voters choose to use our services to participate in an election. The Postal Service will ensure the dependable and timely delivery of Election Mail and Political Mail.

n The Postal Service takes pride in the U.S. Mail^® as an efficient and effective means for citizens to participate in the electoral process.

n Voters can trust the Postal Service to deliver their mailed ballots in a timely manner.

n The Postal Service offers a state-by-state outreach program to ensure election boards, political candidates, and mailers are aware of the appropriate procedures and important deadlines to help ensure the proper processing and delivery of Election Mail and Political Mail.

n The Postal Service expects to handle millions of ballots this election cycle — proof that mail is a dependable and protected way to cast a vote.

n In addition to any state or local rules, requirements, and recommendations, the Postal Service recommends that election officials consider providing applicable Postal Service mailing recommendations in their voter communications to ensure that individuals who wish to use the mail to vote know how to do so successfully.

n Individuals who opt to vote through the U.S. Mail should understand their local jurisdiction’s requirements, deadlines, and recommendations for submission of mail-in ballots.

n Military/Diplomatic personnel serving overseas, such as Army and Air Force Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office (APO/FPO/DPO) voters, must follow the return by mail date for their location (see fvap.gov/eo/overview).

n To ensure that mailpieces meet the Postal Service’s mailing standards and can be processed on our automated equipment, a mailpiece design analyst (MDA) has been assigned to assist each locality. We strongly recommend that state and local election officials work with the Postal Service before designing and printing any mailpieces for use in elections.

n To enhance visibility, we recommend use of the Election Mail checkbox and Official Election Mail logo for all Election Mail; and use of the Ballot Mail checkbox and Tag 191, Domestic and International Ballots, for outbound ballots.

n We also strongly encourage election officials to use serialized Intelligent Mail^® barcodes (IMb^®), so that they will be able track their Election Mail. The IMb is a 65-bar Postal Service barcode used to sort and track letters and flats. It allows mailers, in this case, election officials, to use a barcode to participate in multiple Postal Service programs simultaneously, expand the mailers’ ability to track individual mailpieces, and see where ballots are within the mailstream.

n The Postal Service requires that mailers use the proper STID for the mail. Thus, the Postal Service makes available specific STIDs for use by election officials on Ballot Mail, which is any piece of official Election Mail that contains a live ballot, and for Political Mail sent by registered political candidates, campaign committees, committees of a political party, political action committees, or organizations engaging in issue advocacy or voter mobilization. STIDs are unique 3-digit codes that indicate the service type for an individual mailpiece and a part of the IMb. These specifically designed STIDs have proven instrumental in identifying and tracking mail.

n Election officials and their mail service providers can now access the Election Mail and Ballot Mail STID Finder. This tool is designed to assist with selecting an appropriate Election Mail and Ballot Mail STID for outbound mailings. Learn more about the tool by visiting postalpro.usps.com/stid-tool.

n All U.S. Mail is protected bymore than 200 federal laws enforced by the United States Postal Inspection Service^® (USPIS^®), one of the nation‘s oldest law enforcement agencies. The Postal Service employs a robust and proven process to ensure the proper acceptance, processing, and delivery of Election Mail.

n The USPIS monitors Election Mail from the time it is placed into the hands of the Postal Service, and the entire time it is in our network up to delivery to prevent, identify, and mitigate any issues that might interfere with its secure and timely delivery.

n The U.S. Mail remains a secure, efficient, and effective means for citizens and campaigns to participate in the electoral process, and the Postal Service is proud of our role as an important component of the nation’s democratic process.

Key Voter Message — Mailed Return Ballots

Individuals who opt to vote through U.S. Mail service should understand their local jurisdiction’s rules and requirements for participating in an election, including rules and deadlines concerning the timely submission of ballots. Voters should contact their local election officials for questions about local deadlines.

The Postal Service’s mailing recommendations for voters include:

n In jurisdictions that require eligible voters to request a ballot through the mail, we recommend that domestic, nonmilitary voters request their ballot as early as their jurisdiction allows. Some jurisdictions, including those with all-mail elections, generally do not require eligible voters to request a ballot in order to receive one.

n For domestic, non-military voters who choose to use the mail to return their completed ballot, the Postal Service recommends that they mail their completed ballot before Election Day, and at least 1 week before the deadline by which their completed ballot must be received by their local election official. Some states may recommend allowing even more time for mailing completed ballots. Election officials should consider advising voters about the Postal Service’s recommendations.

n Voters should keep in mind the time required for both legs of mail delivery — to the voter and back to election officials — when deciding how to participate in an election.

n 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.

n 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 pre-canceled before they enter the mailstream. In recognition of the importance that the election laws in some states place on postmarks, it has been the long-standing policy of the Postal Service to try to ensure that every completed 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.

n We instruct our employees throughout the country to adhere to that policy on return ballots. However, we acknowledge that there will always be rare occurrences where a mailpiece does not receive a legible postmark. Election officials are advised that the use of automation-compatible, letter-sized envelopes increases the likelihood that a mailpiece will receive a legible postmark.

n 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. If asked, the retail unit employee will hand-cancel the ballot upon accepting custody of the mailpiece.