The Postal Service’s extraordinary measures include but are not limited to:

1. Retail Operations
• Post offices may establish a “ballot postmark only” line at retail counters which should be staffed at all times through Election Day.
• To better manage high volumes, if necessary, post offices may establish drive-through ballot postmark and/or drop options which will be staffed daily through Election Day.
2. Extra Deliveries and Collections
• USPS will utilize extra deliveries and collections to move completed ballots entered on Election Day to election officials by the state’s designated deadline.
• This includes, but is not limited to, early collections through Election Day to ensure all collected ballots are processed in a timely manner, and ballots found in collections on Election Day are delivered to local election boards.
• Early collections will be run on Monday, Nov. 2 and Tuesday, Nov. 3, with local postmark. reflecting the date of entry and turnaround for local ballots to the appropriate Board of Election.
• On Election Day, USPS will operate special runs of collected ballots to Boards of Elections.
3. Special Pickups (e.g., Priority Mail Express, special deliveries)
• Postmasters will arrange for after-hours handoffs with Boards of Elections.
• Beginning Friday, Oct. 30, employees are authorized to use the Express Mail network to connect completed ballots returned by voters entered close to or on Election Day to their intended destination.
• Postmasters will intercept and deliver Election Mail with known mailer misprints in the barcode (wrong ZIP or address at wrong destination) and redirect ballots to the correct Board of Election.
4. Sunday Collections on Nov. 1.
• All dedicated collection routes will be completed on Sunday Nov. 1.
5. Local Carriers Will Check Every Residential Mailbox For Outbound Mail Through Oct. 31.
• Through Saturday, Oct. 31, local carriers will be checking for outgoing mail at every residential mailbox, including ballots, regardless if they have mail to deliver.
6. Processing Plants Sunday Plan
• Processing facilities will process collected ballots on Sunday, Nov. 1 for delivery back to election officials on Monday, Nov. 2.
• Any ballot volume identified for destinations outside of the local service area will be expedited to its intended destination, utilizing Priority Mail Express if needed.
7. Processing Plants Monday and Tuesday Plan
• Processing facilities will start processing collected ballots early on Monday, Nov. 2, and Tuesday, Nov. 3
• Ballot volumes will be held out from Delivery Point Sequencing (which would normally be delivered on Wednesday/Thursday) and provided to election officials on Tuesday, Nov. 3, throughout the day up to Tuesday’s specific state deadline
• Any ballot volume identified for destinations outside of the local service area will be expedited to its intended destination, utilizing Priority Mail Express if needed.

These extraordinary measures are in addition to processes and procedures USPS has deployed since September to deliver the nation’s ballots for the November election in a secure and timely manner, including:

8. Continuing Carefully Tracking and Advancing Ballots at Local Facilities
• Ballot Monitors. Postal Service has designated employees serving as “ballot monitors” to make sure to monitor the postmarking process and ensure all processes are being adhered to properly with a goal to minimize any missed postmarks on ballots.
• Returned Ballots are First-Class Mail. All return ballots mailed by voters are serviced as  First-Class Mail, unless a voter opts to pay for one of our premium services.
9. Close Coordination with State and Local Election Officials. The Postal Service will continue to work closely with election officials to effectively and efficiently deliver the nation’s ballots ahead of state deadlines.

Keep State Deadlines and Mail Collection Times in Mind When Choosing to Vote By Mail In Remaining Days before Election Day

In the final days ahead of the November election, the Postal Service reiterated its general recommendation that, as a common-sense measure, that nonmilitary voters in the United States that choose to use the mail to return a completed ballot should mail the completed ballot before Election Day and at least one week prior to their state’s deadline. Some states may recommend allowing even more time for mailing completed ballots. With little time remaining, voters should keep these recommendations in mind when deciding how to return their ballots.

Voters are also reminded to check collection times posted on collection boxes and at Post Office retail facilities, and be mindful of when mail is delivered and picked up at your residential mailbox. Ballots deposited after the collection time won’t be picked up, or postmarked, until the following business day.

• The Postal Service delivers 433 million pieces of mail a day. Even if all Americans were to vote by mail this year, 330 million ballots over the course of the election would be only three-quarters of what the Postal Service delivers in a single day.
• Anticipated volume of Election Mail is predicted to amount to less than 2% of total mail volume from mid-September to Election Day.
• Anticipated volume of Election Mail will still be less than our holiday season volume, which we successfully deliver every year.

• Throughout October, the Postal Service has allocated additional resources including expanded processing procedures, extra transportation, extra delivery and collection trips and overtime to ensure Election Mail reaches its intended destination in a timely manner.
• Between October 26 and November 24, USPS local management is authorized and instructed to use extraordinary measures—expedited handling, extra deliveries and special pickups—consistent with practices used in past elections, to accelerate the delivery of ballots to its intended destination. 
• A fact sheet outlining these and other operational readiness measures the Postal Service has implemented related to Election Mail can be found here.

• Retail hours at Post Offices will not be reduced.  
• Mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are. 
• No mail processing facilities will be closed or consolidated. 
• Completed ballots mailed by voters are First-Class Mail, regardless of whether they are prepaid by election officials or mailed with a stamp affixed by the voter. The only situation where completed ballots are not First-Class Mail is where the voter opts instead to pay for a premium service like Priority Mail or Priority Mail Express.
• We will continue to prioritize Election Mail that is entered as Marketing Mail regardless of the paid class. 

• When should voters mail their ballot to be sure it arrives on time?
• If you are eligible to vote by mail and choose to do so, you should plan ahead to give yourself enough time to complete and return your ballot by your state’s deadlines.
• For domestic, nonmilitary voters who choose to use the mail to return a completed ballot, our general recommendation is, as a common-sense measure, to mail your completed ballot before Election Day, and at least one week prior to your state’s deadline. Some states may recommend allowing even more time for mailing completed ballots.
• You should always check to make sure you understand your state’s requirements and recommendations on mailing your completed ballot. You can look for information about your state’s requirements and recommendations here: Find your state election website.

• What about ballots mailed close to Election Day?
• The Postal Service recognizes that Election Mail, and ballots in particular, are time-sensitive. We are committed to the expeditious processing and delivery of Election Mail, particularly ballots. To minimize the risk that a ballot will not arrive before your state’s deadline, we recommend that, as a best practice, voters act early if they plan to use the mail to return their completed ballot.
• Between October 26 and November 24, extraordinary measures including expedited handling, extra deliveries and special pickups will be used as in past elections to ensure Election Mail reaches its intended destination in a timely manner.

• What happens if a voter mails a ballot without sufficient postage?  
• Each state or local Board of Elections if authorized, determines whether to provide voters with a pre-paid return envelope for mail-in ballots or request that voters apply their own appropriate postage. The Postal Service requires election officials to inform voters of the amount of postage required, if applicable.
• If a return ballot is nevertheless entered into the mailstream with insufficient or unpaid postage, it is the Postal Service’s policy not to delay the delivery of completed absentee balloting materials, including mail-in ballots. In cases where a ballot enters the mailstream without the proper amount of postage, the Postal Service will deliver the ballot and thereafter attempt to collect postage from the appropriate Board of Elections.

• Some Boards of Elections use postmarks to determine if a ballot was sent on time. What should voters know about postmarking?
• The Postal Service’s policy is to try to ensure that every return ballot mailed by voters receives a postmark, whether the return ballot is pre-paid by election officials or mailed with a stamp affixed by the voter.
• Voters are reminded to:
1. Check collection times posted on collection boxes and at Post Office™ locations and retail facilities. Be mindful of when mail is delivered and picked up at your residential mailbox.
2. Ballots deposited after the collection time won’t be picked up, or postmarked, until the following business day.
3. Be aware of mail collection times and practices if ballots are deposited in an office or residential mailroom.

• How secure are mail-in ballots delivered by the Postal Service? 
• The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, as the federal law enforcement and security arm of the Postal Service, is responsible for defending the nation’s mail system from illegal or dangerous use.
• The Inspection Service continues to employ its technical capabilities and specialized personnel to protect the critical infrastructure of our processing and distribution networks, as well as the employees who will be delivering to voters across the country.
• Utilizing proven mail-fraud detection and loss prevention strategies and countermeasures, Postal Inspectors will continue to actively identify attempts to compromise the mail system our nation is depending on during this critical time. Daily coordination between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies ensures each agency has timely information and all agencies’ resources, tools and techniques can be applied to ensure the integrity of America’s election.

• Election Mail entered as Marketing Mail should be advanced ahead of all other Marketing Mail and processed expeditiously to the extent feasible so that it is generally delivered in line with First-Class Mail delivery standards.
• Processing windows on letter and flat sorting equipment should be expanded as necessary to ensure that all Election Mail received prior to the First-Class Mail Critical Entry Time is processed that same day.
• To the extent possible, Election Mail received after the First Class Mail Critical Entry Time should be processed and advanced as if it arrived prior to the First Class Mail Critical Entry Time, unless doing so would disrupt on-time service for Election Mail received prior to the First Class Mail Critical Time Entry.
• Processing windows for cancellation operations should be expanded to ensure all collected ballots are processed in a timely manner. Each cancellation site will have expanded processing windows for the week prior to and including Election Day.

• Extra transportation resources are authorized and instructed to be used to ensure that Election Mail reaches its intended destination in a timely manner.
• This use of extra transportation includes, but is not limited to, extra trips from all points of processing and delivery (e.g., retail units and plants), as necessary to connect Election Mail to its intended destination or the next stage in Postal Service processing.

• Extra delivery and collection should be used to ensure, to the best of our ability, that completed ballots entered on Election Day reach the appropriate election official by the state’s designated deadline on Election Day.
• This includes, but is not limited to, early collections the week before Election Day to ensure all collected ballots are processed in a timely manner, and delivery of ballots found in collections on Election Day to election boards within states requiring that ballots be returned by a designated time on Election Day.

• Overtime is authorized and instructed to be used to support these additional resources and the completion of the additional work, as needed.

• To further support the timely delivery of Election Mail, and consistent with practices in past election cycles, the use of extraordinary measures beyond normal course of operations is authorized and expected to be executed by local management between October 26 and November 24 to accelerate the delivery of ballots, when the Postal Service is able to identify the mailpiece as a ballot.
• These extraordinary measures include, but are not limited to, expedited handling, extra deliveries, and special pickups as used in past elections, to connect blank ballots entered by election officials to voters or completed ballots returned by voters entered close to or on Election Day to their intended destination (e.g., Priority Mail Express, Sunday deliveries, special deliveries, running collected ballots to Boards of Elections on Election Day, etc.).

• Ballot Ambassadors. In August, the Postmaster Generalexpanded the Postal Service’s national Election Mail Task Force to include union leadership and the leadership of Postal Service management associations. This expanded task force is leading the effort to set up localized task forces, including “ballot ambassadors”. The ballot ambassadors will allow strong information sharing across the country as local teams share their findings with other local teams on a regular basis.
• Coordination with State and Local Election Officials. The Postal Service will continue to communicate closely with election officials to educate them on best practices and recommendations for successfully using the mail as part of their election administration. The Postal Service has also sought to educate voters across the nation to request their ballots early (if they are required to request a ballot) and to return their ballots early, if they plan on using the mail to return their completed ballot.
• Standardized Tools. Political & Election Mail logs, Operational Clean Sweep Checklists, and daily All Clear processes are used to help track Election Mail through Postal Service facilities as well as to ensure that Election Mail is accounted for and properly handled. Teams in the field are conducting self and peer audits to make sure these tools are being used to their maximum effectiveness.
• Communications with Employees. Training and tools for employees are held to ensure they have the knowledge available to support the processing and delivery of all Election Mail volume, and partner with union leadership to further emphasize these important messages.
• Webinars. Weekly webinars with an operational, and often Election-Mail, focus are held and attended by hundreds of leaders across the Postal Service to discuss key points and learnings, such as those gained from service reviews, and spread these messages to all locations. Weekly webinars for Political and Election Mail Coordinators are also held to review and discuss relevant topics and issues.

• No mail processing facilities will be closed or consolidated, and no letter or flat sorting machines will be removed before the November election. The Postal Service has more than sufficient capacity to process current and anticipated Election Mail volumes with the existing machine supply.
• Available machines will be returned to service if Headquarters or the Regional Vice President determine that doing so is necessary to fulfill Election Mail service commitments.

• Late or extra trips have not been banned. They should not be restricted if they are reasonably necessary to complete timely mail delivery. Managers are authorized to use their best business judgment to meet service commitments. Focusing on the transportation schedule does not mean that mail should be left behind — it should not.

• The Postal Service has suspended the removal of any collection boxes until after the 2020 election.
• There may be temporary removal or covering of boxes due to extreme weather, national security incidents, or local events such as wildfires or civil unrest.
• Any collection boxes damaged — for example, by hurricane or a car accident — must be reported and replaced as soon as possible. 

• The Postal Service will not reduce retail hours before the November election.
• Natural disasters, civil unrest, or lack of employee availability due to the coronavirus pandemic may necessitate temporary changes, but local managers are not permitted to reduce retail hours without review and approval by both Area and Headquarters management.