A tool kit of resources for scaling up vote by mail

Icon showing illustration of various vote-by-mail envelopes

Updated: October 1, 2020

While the COVID-19 emergency affects all of our lives, we are checking back in with our mission to make sure elections go on so everyone can vote. Because democracy is a design problem!

As designers, researchers, and humans we can solve problems. So we’re focusing on what we’re good at: helping election officials make it easier for people to vote – even in these times.

We have materials to support any state or county scaling up their vote-by-mail program to get ready to meet the challenge with templates and sample documents. We’ve got 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.

Implementing vote by mail overview

Scaling Up in 2020: CCD’s guide to the decisions and policies needed to support the implementation of mail-in ballots for the 2020 elections.

Vote at home webinars for election officials: series of 3 webinars from National Vote at Home Institute, Center for Tech and Civic Life, and Center for Civic Design. Topics covered (links to slides):

Communicating changes to voters

Email auto-response messages. Use the features of your email system to deliver an automatic reply from your mail public information email. The text includes variations to adjust as deadlines pass. Ready to customize in Microsoft Word.

VBM pocket guide for voters: a short explainer with answers to voters’ top questions about voting by mail, especially in areas where it’s less common.

The pocket guides print on a single two-sided page. On one side, two of the sections will be upside down. To fold it into a booklet:

  • Fold the paper with the cover facing you in the lower right, fold the top half down and away from you.
  • Then fold it again, keeping the cover on the outside.
  • When you open up the booklet, the two inside pages should be right-side up. If you open up again to the full sheet, those four pages should also be right-side up.

Vote by mail request materials

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.

Instructions and envelope inserts

Ballot packages also contain instructional inserts, privacy sleeves voter guides, or other 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.

The vote by mail package

Designing vote at home envelopes and materials: the vote by mail workbook with an overview of the design process, and how to make handling the envelopes accurate for USPS and efficient in the elections office.

Ballot envelopes

We worked extensively with USPS, election officials, and other stakeholders to create envelopes that can make it to voters and back to the election office. When adapting the template, stick closely to the template and work with a US Postal Service Mail Design Analyst (MDA) for feedback on your final designs.

Visit the workbook on best practices for VBM envelopes for information about adapting the template for outgoing and return envelopes in two sizes, with English-only and bilingual examples.

6 x 9 envelopes – outgoing and return

10.5 x 4.5 envelopes – outgoing and return

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

Related art files

  • The templates include a set of colors that help distinguish outgoing envelopes and ballots being returned.
  • The illustrations and icons are all available in the civic icons and images library on ElectionTools in a variety of formats, including Illustrator.

Collaborating with USPS

How to design VBM envelopes for USPS: an overview of navigating USPS, including rules, best practices, and links to more information.

Electionmail.org: report any problems with getting your mail through postal so that USPS can quickly learn and solve.

USPS ballot delivery guide: A one-page flyer for your local post office to help them recognize your envelopes and speed the ballots on their way. Download the Powerpoint template

USPS Election Mail resources

  • 2020 Official Election Mail Kit 600: Start here.
  • 2020 State and Local Election Mail User’s Guide 632: The checklist on page 16 is especially helpful if you are handling the mail in house.
  • Election/political mail coordinators: find the election/political mail coordinator for your region.
  • Envelope testing: If you send 100 copies of your final envelopes to USPS, they will run them through their automation. This can help them find problems before use in an election. Contact an MDA for help.
  • Mail Design Analysts (MDA): MDAs are USPS employees who provide feedback or answer questions at any stage in the envelope design process. Contact them:
    • by email: mda@usps.gov
    • by phone: 855-593-6093
    • by location: look-up tool
  • Publications and other support:
    • Publication 631: USPS guidelines for graphics and logo.
    • Publication 700: USPS guidelines on balloting materials.
    • Green tag 191: request these green container tags to add visibility in post office facilities to trays of ballot mail destined for either domestic or international addresses.

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.

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.

More resources

COVID-19 Webinars for Election Officials. A series of 12 free webinars from Center for Tech and Civic Life. Vote by mail topics include:

Healthy + Elections. Resources for running polling places and drop-box collection, including sample pollworker training for COVID-19 from the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project.

National Vote at Home Institute’s Resource Library: Reports, briefs, and other up to date resources on the current status of the vote-at-home movement from the National Vote at Home Institute.

EAC webinars on voting by mail: A series of video conversations with election officials about the resources and approaches to scaling-up vote by mail to ensure mail ballots get cast and counted.