VOTE-BY-MAIL TRENDS Voting by mail was on the rise pre-pandemic. 2020 was an abnormal year—it’s not very often that a pandemic comes along. Even before this disruption, voting by mail was growing steadily, and the rise is set to continue.
Vote-by-Mail is here to stay. Let’s be real, we’re probably never going to see a vote-by-mail spike quite like what we saw in 2020. But we are likely to see an upward trend in mail voting continue. History has shown us that once voters take the opportunity to try mail voting, most continue to use it. Regardless of whether 2020's mail voting changes were temporary or permanent, you will need to prepare for a continued increase in mail voting volumes. This trend isn’t going away anytime soon.
FACT: Experts projected a third of all American voters would leverage vote-by-mail in the 2020 election, according to a USPS report.¹ In fact, according to the MIT Election Lab survey, 46% of Americans voted by mail.²
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Actual Mail-In Voters
Projected Mail-In Voters 46% 33%
KEY IMPACTS FROM 2020 Higher volumes and rule changes. The 2020 election mail voting volumes forced jurisdictions to accommodate vote-by-mail and absentee ballot processing at levels never seen before. Traditionally, mail voting operations might have been a manual process, due to the small number of ballots. However, 2020 volume's made manual processing of ballots expensive and time-consuming, not to mention the increased chance of error that any manual process brings. Automation addresses many factors, including reducing the time it takes to process ballots, the number of people needed to get the job done, as well as increasing the accuracy of ballot assembly.
FACT: The USPS delivered roughly 543,000,000 pieces of election mail in 2020, which represents a 96% increase from 2016.¹
543M
251m
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KEY IMPACTS Continued Need for Auditing, Tracking, and Security. There's no doubt that questions surrounding the integrity and security of voting by mail arose during and after the 2020 election. Thankfully, the outcome clearly demonstrated that security and transparency can be built into the process. By switching to automation, voters can receive, validate, and verify ballot accuracy by way of a complete, end-to-end solution.
Auditing Post election auditing is an important component of the election process. Automation delivers capabilities to provide forensic auditing of the entire process from the initial ballot packet mailing through the receipt of the returned ballot envelope including tracking, monitoring, and reporting. Audit trails can be useful if a voter ever questions what they received, or when they received it. It also can be used for public record requests or documentation for legal challenges that may arise.
Tracking Being able to track ballots has become an important piece of the automation process giving election Officials total visibility by tracking both outbound and inbound ballots.
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Security As the volume of vote-by-mail plays a bigger role in elections, public scrutiny increases, alongside the need for security. In addition to the need to process mail ballots faster and with complete accuracy, you must also be able to prove what was done, who did it, and how it was done. Moving to automation provides proof of processing, and automated tools allow you to show the following: • Ballot packet was accurately assembled • Ballot packet was tracked to delivery at voter address • Return ballot envelope was tracked back to Election Office • Return ballot envelope had a date and time of receipt • Return ballot envelope was verified and accepted Automation limits human error and bias by relying on voter databases, barcode scanning, electronic imaging, and machine verification to ensure the right ballot is placed in the right envelope and signed by the right person. In this way, you can provide security and enjoy peace of mind.
FACT: Voting by mail isn’t new; it has been utilized for 40 years, and five states use it exclusively.¹
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BEST PRACTICES IN MAIL BALLOT PRODUCTION The One-to-One Ballot Process There are many steps to consider in the mail voting process—from the time the ballot is created, up to when the ballot is ready to be counted. When implementing a mail voting solution the key is taking a comprehensive approach, one which ensures all of the individual end-to-end process steps have been addressed.
FACT:
159M 137M
A record 159 million voters cast ballots in the 2020 general election – 22 million more than in 2016 – and the turnout percentage was the highest in a U.S. election since 1900. The Postal Service delivered at least 135 million ballots to or from voters in the general election.¹ 2016
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2020
BEST PRACTICES Address Quality and Postal Automation: The first step of mail ballot processing involves correct addressing. You typically derive address sources for mail ballots from a county or state system where address information is entered manually, and may not meet postal standards, or may be incorrect. It's important to incorporate address hygiene software as part of the mail voting process. This helps to avoid mail delays, or even returns, based on inaccurate or incomplete address elements. Next, you can utilize postal automation software to enable the USPS Informed Delivery system. This allows the tracking of mail ballots during delivery to the voter as well as their return ballot to the election office. This provides the ability to answer voter inquires about mail ballots during transit.
Case Study: Vote-by-Mail Success Story: Orange County, California Orange County requested "Amazon-like" outbound and inbound processing and tracking of mail ballots. BlueCrest delivered with Relia-Vote. “Having all the elements under one system provides greater efficiencies and will provide enhanced service benefits over the long-term.” -Neal Kelley, Chief Election Official of Orange County Registrar of Voters. Watch Video
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BEST PRACTICES Ballot Automation: The next step in the process is to compile the necessary ballots for mailing. Using ballot automation software allows you to produce these ballots on-demand, based on the requests generated from the voter registration system each day. Producing ballots on-demand reduces cost by eliminating the need to pay for pre-printed ballots that may not be used for an election. Additionally, ballot automation software helps you prepare ballots and data for downstream automation of the envelope assembly, addressing, and inserting process.
Ballot Printing: On-demand ballot printing is an established practice, however, ballots have very specific and strict tolerances for quality and registration. It is critical that you only use proven ballot printing systems that can meet these standards to avoid scanning issues during ballot scanning and tabulation.
Case Study: Vote-by-Mail Success Story: Hillsborough County, Florida Vote-by-mail continues to be a very popular option for US voters on Election Day. Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office in Florida is on the cutting edge of modern election management.
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BEST PRACTICES Ballot Mail Finishing: The mail ballot finishing process involves 4 critical steps: 1. Assemble the ballot with all the required components to be sent to the voter. 2. Insert the ballot and contents into the mailing envelope. 3. Print voter-specific information on the mailing envelope and the ballot return envelope. 4. Verify that all the unique pieces in the mail packet are correct and that the right ballot was sent to the correct voter. There is a variety of equipment to help automate each individual step of the ballot finishing process. However, automating these processes individually does not necessarily ensure the integrity and verification that is needed with mail ballot processing. In fact, using high speed equipment without high-integrity and content verification can create large scale errors. When considering automation, it is critical to choose a solution designed specifically for mail ballot finishing. These systems combine assembly, insertion, and printing into a single integrated process, and utilize cameras, scanners, and sensors to track every piece during the process and validate the integrity and accuracy for every mail ballot packet. These “closed-looped” solutions ensure both the accuracy of each individual piece as well as accuracy of the mail run itself.
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BEST PRACTICES Envelope Design:
Ballot Envelope Verification & Acceptance:
It is recommended to use the USPS automation-compatible size envelopes for mail ballots. Adherence to this standard improves your mail delivery, reduces your postage costs, and enables tracking tools offered by the USPS.
A ballot envelope typically goes through a series of steps prior to being validated and shown as accepted in the voter registration system. Common processes include time and date stamping, verifying the signature, scanning voter specific barcodes, and potentially sorting prior to opening for tabulation. Performing these steps manually can be time consuming, prone to error, and can lack the security and chain of custody desired for handling live ballots. You can streamline these processes with optimal efficiency, security, and audit trails by utilizing automation.
Ballot Tracking Tools: As the volume of mail-in ballots increase, so do the calls from voters questioning whether their returned ballot has been received. USPS tracking tools can provide critical information to respond to constituent questions. For instance, you can validate when ballots are “in the mail” once they leave the office and when voters return them.
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Exception Handling
Once mail is submitted to the post office, the USPS reports on the location of each mail piece every time it is scanned for delivery. You can then get visibility to this process, providing:
It is important to be able to assess the validity of returned ballots envelopes, and automatically detect and outsort anomalies that require attention. This includes ballot envelopes identified as:
• Proof that the USPS received the ballot. • Status to voters of an outbound or return ballot during the delivery process. • Visibility of the overall status of a mailing.
• Returned from a previous election. • Voided in the Voter Registration systems (already voted, multi ballot, voided, etc.) • Missing a ballot, or having too many ballots. • Checked by voter to denote spoilage or special handling.
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BEST PRACTICES Signature Verification: Most jurisdictions require that a signature be present on the envelope and that it matches the signature on file in the Voter Registration system. Automated systems can capture the envelope image while simultaneously scanning the voter barcode for more secure and effecient verification using one of the below methods:
1) Auto Signature Verification - Uses signature verification software to automaticaly compare the signature from the return envelope and the voter signature on file, based on specific settings by the county. 2) Manual Signature Verification - Manually compares side-by-side images of the voter signature from the return envelope and the voter signature on file, then accepts or challenges the signature.
Return Ballot Sorting & Opening: As the final stage of the process, many jurisdictions are required to sort validated return envelopes prior to opening, which can be a time consuming and error prone process. Automated systems allow you to sort validated envelopes, often simultaneously, while performing the above functions. This results in fast processing, minimal operator handling, and a complete audit trail of every returned piece from receipt through opening.
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SOLUTION CONSIDERATIONS Now that you understand the power of automation and the best practices, here are some considerations you should keep in mind when looking for a vote-by-mail solution.
Integrated Solutions In an ideal world, you would implement a complete solution to automate all your needs, from ballot creation up to ballot counting. Circumstances or budgets often do not accommodate this. Implementing in phases is certainly a viable option, however, there are some factors to consider when using this approach: • Formulate your entire “end-to-end” solution up front, even when you are implementing in phases. This safeguards your investment by avoiding potential compatibility or communication problems with other devices purchased in the future. • Use a single vendor that can ultimately fulfill your “end-to-end” needs. Using multiple vendors can create compatibility risks, troubleshooting issues, and potentially erode the integrity and accuracy of an audit trail.
Maintaining Control, Ensuring Accuracy, and Providing Transparency. Remember that constituents demand perfection in the elections process, including mail voting. Manual processes cannot ensure the level of accuracy and accountability required in this age of intense scrutiny. Automated solutions allow control of the process, ensuring accuracy and integrity at each step and providing auditing and transparency to prove that processes happened correctly and properly.
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Outsourcing Considerations: The Increase in mail voting also resulted in a rise in the number of companies offering election mail services. While outsourcing can be a viable option, here are some important considerations to keep in mind when evaluating a service provider. • Mail ballot processing has stringent requirements. Sucessfully managing the production of election mail raises the bar on chain of custody, integrity and tracking. Ensure the service provider has knowledge and experience in processing mail ballots and election mail. • Utilize vendors that offer high-integrity, file-based processing. They should also be able to provide mail tracking of ballots while it transit to the voter in the USPS, as well as tracking on its return. Additionally, service providers should be able to offer you access to images of every completed ballot along with an audit trail of its completion. • Establish good service level agreements and verify that your service provider can complete your work on time. • Consider geographic proximity. Using a provider across the country, or even several states away, can result in delays in delivery.
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Your Election Mail Checklist We have seen that vote-by-mail in the United States has been on the rise for some time, and it will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. Any electoral solution needs to demonstrate the maximum possible security to retain the integrity of elections, and end-to-end vote-by-mail solutions provide the best practices in this regard.
Be sure to consider the following best practices before your next election: Address Quality and Postal Automation Ballot Automation Ballot Printing
Ballot Mail Finishing
Envelope Design
Ballot Tracking Tools
Ballot Envelope Verification & Acceptance
Exception Handling
Signature Verification
Return Ballot Sorting & Opening
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Proven. Trusted. Secure. Relia-Vote uniquely enables high integrity, tracking, monitioring, inbound signature validation, sorting, and reporting in an automated, secure solution. Relia-Vote incorporates leading BlueCrest solutions for flexible print management software, inkjet printers, inserters with inline envelope printing, content verification and sortation. Learn more at bluecrestinc.com/relia-vote
BlueCrest 37 Executive Drive Danbury, CT 06810 For more information: phone: 877-406-7704 email: info@bluecrestinc.com visit us online: bluecrestinc.com/
BlueCrest, the Corporate logo, and Relia-Vote are trademarks of BlueCrest Inc. or a subsidiary. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © 2021 BlueCrest Inc. (a d/b/a of DMT Solutions Global Corporation).All rights reserved. ¹ USPS 2020 Post-Election Analysis. January 12, 2021. https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2021/usps_postelectionanalysis_1-12-21_georgia.pdf ² Survey of the Performance of American Elections, MIT Election Lab, March 2021. https://medium.com/mit-election-lab/how-we-voted-in-2020-8534ee1f30ea