Kit 600 - Your 2018 Official Election Mail

1 2018 United States Postal Service. All Rights Eagle Logo is among the many trademarks of the Postal Service. PLACEAPPROPRIATEFSCLOGO HEREFPOFPOYOUR 2018 Official Election MAIL KIT 600 YOUR 2018 Official Election MAIL KIT 600475 L Enfant PLaza SWWaShington DC 20260-3100 ViSit uS @ 2018As the busy Election season nears, it is expected that 23 million voters across the nation will cast their ballots by domestic absentee ballot or by mail. To help you in the planning and preparation of Election -related mail, the Postal Service has developed the 2018 Official Election Mail Program Kit. The kit is part of our continued commitment to provide you with the tools necessary to use the Mail as a secure, efficient, and effective way to facilitate the Election for 2018: You can order Tag 191, Domestic and International Ballots, online and they can be mailed directly to your office: please visit or contact your Business Mail Entry Unit at Included in your 2018 Official Election Mail Program Kit: Tag 191 Fact Sheet and Sample Tag Information and guidelines to help your ballot mail get higher visibility during processing.

2 Informed Visibility Mail Tracking and Reporting (IV -MTR) Fact Sheet for Election Mail IV -MTR is a service that provides near real-time mail tracking data for letter and flat pieces, bundles, handling units (trays, tubs, and sacks), and containers. Steps to Creating Your Intelligent Mail Barcode Fact Sheet Learn how to create your own IMb to track ballots while in the mail stream and more. Special Procedures APO/FPO/DPO Absentee Ballots Fact Sheet Tips to ensure absentee ballots reach military personnel who are currently overseas. Official Election Mail Program: an Overview for Election Officials Fact Sheet Overview of the many benefits of using mail during the Election process. Publication 631, Official Election Mail Graphic Guidelines and Logos Learn proper usage of the Official Election Mail logo for inclusion on mailpieces.

3 Publication 632, State and Local Election Mail User s Guide Contains information that Election officials must consider before mailing Election Mail. Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM ) Revision to , Balloting Materials, effective October 7, 2013. USPS Enabled an Election Mail Checkbox An Election Mail Checkbox in the PostalOne! processing system and on the following PS Forms: 3602-R, 3602-N, 3600-PM, and 3600-FCM provides USPS visibility of all Official Election Mail entered into the mailstream. USPS Postmarks Mail Processed on USPS Letter Automation Processing Equipment That Applies Cancellations The use of a postmark has a variety of uses including identifying the date of ballot materials, voter registration cards, absentee applications, polling place notifications, and tax filing 191, Domestic and International BallotsThe Postal Service recommends the use of green Tag 191, Domestic and International Ballots, to identify trays and sacks that contain ballot mail.

4 Although use of the tag is optional, it provides greater visibility to containers of ballot mail as they move through Postal Service processing and distribution 191 may only be used to identify ballot mail addressed for domestic or international delivery. The tag is not to be used to identify containers of other types of Official Election Mail such as polling place notices, voter registration notices, or other Election -related materials. Tag 191 may not be used by organizations or individuals for Political Campaign Mail that promotes political candidates, referendums, or political Tag 191 to the mail container as follows: Strapped Letter Trays: Using a plastic twist tie, attach Tag 191 to the strap at the end of the tray that bears the tray label.

5 Non-strapped Letter Trays: For trays permitted to be tendered without strapping, attach Tag 191 to the tray with a rubber band that is double-looped through the tray handhold at the end that bears the tray label. Sacks and Flat Trays with Flat-Size Mail: Depending on the type of sack, attach Tag 191 to either the strap or label holder on the :New for 2018: You can order Tag 191, Domestic and International Ballots, online and they can be mailed directly to your office: please visit or contact your Business Mail Entry Unit at ht 2012-2018 United States Postal Service . All Rights Eagle Logo is among the many trademarks of the Postal Service .Please use this Tag 191 for ballot mail. Additional tags can be obtained through your local Post Office facility.

6 2018 United States Postal Service . All Rights Eagle Logo is among the many trademarks of the Postal Service .Informed Visibility Mail Tracking and Reporting (IV -MTR) Fact Sheet for Election MailThe IV-MTR application provides near real-time and expanded visibility of mailpieces (letters and flats), bundles, handling units (trays, tubs, and sacks), and containers. This provides you with insight as mail moves through the mailstream, enabling you to better plan Election mail resources. IV-MTR also enables you to receive the data you want, when you want it, and how you want it through flexible data provisioning and data way IV-MTR expands visibility is by leveraging GPS tracking information from carrier hand-held scanners to create logical delivery events, providing insight into when mail is delivered without the need for a physical scan.

7 This helps fill in visibility gaps, giving you powerful end-to-end tracking expands visibility beyond physical scans of mail objects by leveraging theintelligence of Full-Service Intelligent Mail and nesting associations. For example, IV-MTRcreates assumed handling events for nested mail whenever the mail aggregate containingthe nested mail is does IV-MTR help Election Officials?For outgoing mail, IV-MTR helps you do the following: Obtain near real-time notification when your mail receives its last processing scan. Identify mail delivery trends and predicted delivery dates. Know when mailpieces reach their destination so you can better manage incoming reply mail, IV-MTR helps you do the following: Obtain near real-time notification when your return mail enters the mailstream.

8 Know when voters return items are on the way and where they are in the PostalService supply do I get started with IV-MTR?To learn more or get started with IV-MTR service, visit our website, send an email, or contact the IV-MTR help IV-MTR Help Desk:1-800-238-3150, Option # Help Desk is available 7 AM to 7 PM CT, Monday through Friday (closed on holidays).Steps to creating your Intelligent Mail BarcodeThe Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb ) is a 65-bar Postal Service barcode used to sort and track letters and flats. It allows mailers to use a single barcode to participate in multiple Postal Service programs simultaneously, expands mailers ability to track individual mailpieces, and provides greater mail stream Intelligent Mail barcode can be applied on Priority Mail pieces, First-Class Mail pieces, USPS Marketing Mail pieces, Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail pieces, Periodicals, letters and flats, and Bound Printed Matter flats.

9 The IMb can be used for IMb Informed Visibility Mail Tracking and Reporting (IV -MTR) service, and it can be used for address correction services: manual address correction notices, Address Change Service (ACS ), onecode ACS , and Intelligent Mail Full-Service ACS . IMb IV-MTR application provides information about when and where the Postal Service sorts a mailpiece on mail-processing equipment. Traditional ACS, onecode ACS, and Full-Service ACS provide mailers with electronic address-correction information when a mailpiece cannot be delivered as 1: DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL THE ENCODER AND FONTThe IMb consists of a 20-digit tracking code field (Barcode Identifier, Service Type Identifier, Mailer Identifier, and Serial Number) and a Routing Code (ZIP Code ) field of up to 11 digits.

10 An encoder is required to convert the numeric digits into a 65-character string representing the bars of the IMb tracking code, and a special font is required to convert the 65 alpha-character string into the IMb bars. Users can download a library of IMb tracking code fonts and computer source code from the Fonts and Encoders Download page at The Intelligent Mail Barcode Resource Download page on PostalPro provides many useful links and answers to frequently asked 2: APPLY FOR A MAILER IDENTIFIERA Mailer Identifier (Mailer ID or MID) is required for the IMb tracking code. New Mailer IDs are assigned through centralized USPS processes, generally through the Mailer ID system at (Business Customer Gateway). Refer to the User Access to Electronic Mailing Information and Reports Guide on PostalPro for step-by-step instructions for using the Mailer ID system.