Toolkit: Designing materials for vote by mail

Icon showing illustration of various vote-by-mail envelopes

We have materials to support any state or county scaling up their vote-by-mail. In this toolkit, you’ll find templates and sample documents for all stages of the vote by mail journey, including ballot request forms, envelope designs, voter information and instructions, and more, all based on best practices around the country. 

If you or your vendors have questions, we are happy to help as a free service. Contact us at hello@civicdesign.org.

Go to:

Section 1. Vote by mail request materials

Section 2. Instructions and envelope inserts

Section 3. Vote by mail envelopes

Section 4. After ballots are mailed (tracking, curing, and signature verification)

If you are only looking for vote by mail envelopes, visit our Workbook: Designing vote by mail envelopes

Section 01

Vote by mail request materials

Forms and notices

Vote by mail request form: you can create an accessible, fillable PDF by starting with “fillable-friendly” Word file. Download editable files in Microsoft Office.

Personalized ballot request postcard: this example comes from Shasta County, CA. Originally designed to go in a voter guide, it combines a polling place notification message with a vote by mail request form

Vote by mail and ballot request information card: a sample postcard notice with information about how to request a ballot and vote by mail. Download editable files in Microsoft Office.

Ballot request form envelopes

A simple design for the front of a #10 and #9 envelope that introduces the vote-by-mail design branding on our envelope design.

Section 02

Instructions and envelope inserts

Ballot packages also contain instructional inserts, privacy sleeves, voter guides, or other information. These inserts are a great opportunity to answer voters’ common questions about the mechanics of voting by mail. Useful topics may include:

  • Options for returning the ballot
  • Location of dropboxes or the election office
  • Last safe date for mailing a ballot
  • Voter rights
  • Links to online information

“I Voted” sticker: our version of an “I Voted” sticker in Adobe Illustrator and ready for you to use.

Voter instructions – half page: a sample of a half-page instructions insert with bold icons, minimal text, and ready to customize. Print two at a time on letter paper. Add alternative languages on the back. Ready to customize in Powerpoint.

Voter instructions – booklet: a sample of instructions and other information about how to return their ballot with options for lists of return options, drop-off locations, and rights guides. Letter-sized sheet folded into a booklet, ready to customize in PowerPoint.

Voter instructions – full-page: a sample of instructions for how to mark and return the ballot from Shasta County, California. Ready to customize in Microsoft Word.

Instruction insert for voting with a witness: a sample 2-page insert for states that require a witness for voting by mail, with a checklist for anything that can disqualify a ballot. Ready to customize in Microsoft Word.

Section 03

Vote by mail envelopes

Workbook: Designing vote by mail envelopes

Check out our vote by mail envelope workbook is an overview of the design process, and how to make handling the envelopes accurate for USPS and efficient in the elections office.

County-to-county forwarding labels: labels for counties to use to send ballots to a different election office for counting. Download the working file in Microsoft Word.

Section 04

After ballots are mailed

Tracking and reporting tools

Ballot Scout: an affordable, customizable way for election offices and voters to track their ballot, from Democracy Works.

ElectionMail.org: we hope everything goes smoothly with your vote at home package, but if you encounter an issue make sure you report it. In addition to an official report to your local post office, ElectionMail.org is your direct line to the election mail group at USPS.

Curing a problem on a vote by mail envelope

If the signature does not match or is missing, some states allow voters to correct or ‘cure’ their signature. Depending on state law, notification letters may be short or more complicated. Email and phone contacts are often allowed, too.

An invitation to certainty in an uncertain time. Guidance for writing good cure notifications.

Designing ballot cure forms. A report on research to test voter reactions to different designs.

Sample notification messages. Written as a letter, email, phone script of text message, using good principles for messaging and inspiring action. Word file, ready to edit.

Cure letter – short form. An example from California of a short form in letter format.

Cure letter – form layout. An example based on Florida law with a more formal layout with an ID requirement to explain.

Signature verification

Signature verification. Matching the voter’s signature on the envelope to the one on file in their voter registration record is called signature verification. The signature verification and cure process is outlined in a document from CISA posted at the Election Assistance Commission

Colorado’s signature verification guide: Training for election workers from the Colorado Secretary of State.
(The current guide is linked from the Legal and Policy page)