2024 Election Mail Procedures

The Postal Service defines Election Mail as “any item mailed to or from authorized election officials that enables citizens to participate in the voting process.” Election mail includes:

• Mail-in ballots;
• Balloting materials;
• Voter registration cards;
• Mail-in ballot applications;
• Polling place notifications.

One easy way to determine if a piece of mail is Election Mail is to look for the "Official Election Mail" logo. While not every piece of Election Mail will feature this logo, most will.

Election officials may place a green container tag #191 on mail-in ballots to help identify trays and sacks of ballot mail. This tag is for ballots destined for both domestic and international addresses.

Election Mail versus Political Mail

Political Mail is different from Election Mail. The Postal Service defines Political Mail as “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 have a red container tag #57 titled, “Political Campaign Mailing” to help distinguish this mail within postal facilities.

Processing Election Mail

Election Mail should be expedited through the network with timely processing. According to Post Office policy, all delivery units and processing facilities are required to certify, on a daily basis, that their unit is clear of all Political and Election Mail committed for delivery that day.

Expedited processing and delivery of election related mail is crucial to our democratic process. It is extremely important that ballots are identified and processed in a timely manner to ensure ballots are returned to election offices within the allotted time for the vote to be counted.

If you are unfamiliar with USPS Election Mail and Political Mail policies, please contact your supervisor. ■