The US Postal Service Encourages Voters to Mail Early

Story Summary

This is a message brought to you by the United States Postal Service. With more than 25 million ballots expected to be mailed this fall, the US Postal Service is encouraging voters to mail early this election season.

US Postal Service Consumer Advocate, Laurie Timmons:

"MAIL IS AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT PART OF U.S. ELECTIONS, AND MAILING BALLOTS BACK AT LEAST THREE DAYS BEFORE THEY ARE DUE WILL ENSURE DEPENDABLE AND TIMELY DELIVERY OF BALLOT MAIL.

AMERICAN VOTERS OUTSIDE THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES OR LIVING OVERSEAS, WHETHER CIVILIAN OR MILITARY, SHOULD CHECK USPS-DOT-COM FOR SUGGESTED BALLOT MAIL-BACK DATES.

THESE AMERICANS CAN MAIL THEIR COMPLETED BALLOTS BACK HOME FREE OF CHARGE BY USING EITHER THE APO/FPO POST OFFICE OR BY HAND-DELIVERING THEIR BALLOTS TO THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE."

The Postal Service has been working with local elections officials to make sure election mail is created in a way that allows for efficient processing and delivery.

I'm Patricia Licata.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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