Section VlI. Preparing and Presenting the Mailing

At Least 2 Weeks Before Election Day (and Preferably Earlier), Finalize Your Plans

• Let your Postal Service Election Mail team know if you want to pick up returning ballots at a Postal Service facility each day or have them delivered to your election office with your regular mail. If you choose to pick up your mail, please coordinate with your Postal Service Manager of Customer Relations to arrange and determine the best time for pick up. This option will allow you to get the Ballot Mail as early as possible. This is another reason to consider using a Post Office Box or Caller Service.
• Inform your Postal Service Manager of Customer Relations of your cut-off time for receiving returned ballots. Arrange the latest time when an election official may pick up last-minute returns.
• Obtain pallets, trays, sacks, labels, tags, and stickers. If you use a mailing service, be sure to verify that the service will be providing all the needed supplies or can obtain them for you.
• Depending on what you are mailing, present one or more of the following forms to the Postal Service along with your mail:
• PS Form 3600, Postage Statement, series for First-Class Mail.
• PS Form 3602, Postage Statement, series for USPS Marketing Mail (Regular or Nonprofit).
• Requires more than free carrier service.
• Receives or plans to receive more mail than can be delivered to the largest available PO Box at the facility.
• Effective January 28, 2024, the Postal Service is discontinuing the use of hardcopy postage statements to improve efficiency by expediting the acceptance of commercial mail. Except for Electronic Verification System (eVS®) mailings, all domestic commercial mailings must use an approved electronic method to transmit a postage statement to the PostalOne!^® system.
• The Postal Service provides free means of electronic postage statement submission through the Intelligent Mail for Small Business (IMsb) tool and Postal Wizard. There are also approved third party software options available on PostalPro at https://postalpro.usps.com/. These forms are available on the Postal Service’s website at https://about.usps.com/resources/forms.htm.