1. What is Election Mail?
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 voting applications, and polling place notifications.
To enhance visibility, we recommend use of the Election Mail checkbox, to indicate either official ballot mail or non-ballot materials, Official Election Mail logo, and serialized IMb for outbound ballots
2. What is Ballot Mail?
Ballot Mail is a subset of Election Mail. It consists of any mailpiece sent to or from an authorized election official containing a live ballot that may be used to cast a vote in an election. Ballot Mail must use the Election Mail – Official Ballots checkbox, Official Election Mail logo, and serialized IMb for outbound ballots, as well as Ballot Mail STIDs and green Tag 191, Domestic and International Ballots, to increase visibility in the postal network.
3. 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.
Political Mail may be sent for any public election — partisan or nonpartisan — for which there is a ballot. Political Mail is identified using red Tag 57, Political Campaign Mailing, checking the Political Campaign Mailing box at induction, and by using Political Mail STIDs.
4. What is the Hatch Act?
The Hatch Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 7321–7326) limits certain political activities for most executive branch employees. For example, the law prohibits employees from engaging in political activity while on duty or in the federal workplace. The Hatch Act also prohibits executive branch employees from soliciting or receiving political contributions. Employees who violate the Hatch Act are subject to a range of disciplinary actions, including the following:
n Removal from federal service.
n Reduction in grade.
n Debarment from federal employment for a period not to exceed 5 years.
n Suspension, reprimand, or a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000.
5. How does the Hatch Act affect the Postal Service and its employees?
The Postal Service is non-political, which means the organization cannot and does not support any political party or affiliation over another. The continued effectiveness of this organization depends on delivering all political mailings without giving the perception that the views of one candidate, political party, or political viewpoint are endorsed over another.
It is the responsibility of all Postal Service employees to know and obey Hatch Act restrictions. This means that employees may not display political buttons while on Postal Service property or place bumper stickers on a Postal Service vehicle that indicate a preference for a specific candidate, party, or political position. Employees are also urged not to participate in any political discussions where customers are present.
This brief summary does not address all of the Hatch Act prohibitions. For more information about the Hatch Act:
n Go to the Ethics page on Blue at blue.usps.gov/uspslaw/ethics;
n Contact the HQ Ethics helpline at 202-268-6346; or
n Send an email message to “Ethics Help” (internal email) or ethics.help@usps.gov.
6. Does return Ballot Mail need to be postmarked by a certain date?
Ballot acceptance rules vary on a state-by-state basis. Some states may accept a ballot that is received after the deadline if it has been mailed and postmarked by a specific date. Other states require all ballots (including mail-in ballots) to be received by the election office by a specified deadline.
Go to your state’s election website for specific information: usa.gov/state-election-office.
7. Will return Ballot Mail be postmarked?
The Postal Service’s longstanding practice is 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. We instruct our employees throughout the country about our ballot postmarking processes and procedures and review standard operating procedures for postmarking.
While our postmarking practices have not changed, we have made adjustments to our transportation operations that will result in some mailpieces not arriving at our originating processing facilities on the same day that they are mailed. Because postmarks are generally applied at those processing facilities, this means that the date on the postmarks applied at those facilities may not necessarily match the date of mailing.
A voter can ensure that a postmark is applied to his or her return Ballot Mail envelope, and that the date on the postmark matches the date of mailing, by visiting a Postal Service retail location and requesting a manual postmark at the retail counter when dropping off the ballot for mailing. When asked, the retail associate will apply a manual postmark free of charge upon accepting custody of the mailpiece.
