What’s the Difference Between Political Mail and Election Mail?

When trying to get elected, direct mailings like political and election mail are extremely useful methods of reaching out to constituents and drawing attention to your platform. There are, however, key differences in the matter of political mail vs. election mail that need to be kept in mind, since both serve essential roles within the electoral system.

What is Political Direct Mail?

The United States Postal Service has a very specific definition of what it considers to be political mail. Any material promoting a candidate, campaign, or referendum that gets sent out from a registered political candidate, campaign committee, or committee of a political party (like the Democratic National Committee) is considered political mail. In other words, political mail is any promotional or awareness-raising message sent out by a political candidate, campaign, or party.

What is Election Mail?

The United States Postal Service defines election mail as any material that is mailed to or from authorized election officials and relates to citizen voting. This includes mail-in ballots, ballot materials, voter registration cards, absentee voter applications, and polling place notifications.

A good way to tell the difference between political and election mailings is that political mail is about what people should vote for or why, while election mail is any material that relates to the action of voting itself.

Political Mail vs. Election Mail: Which is Better?

Neither, admittedly. Political and election mail serve different purposes and any serious campaign is going to want to make use of both as much as possible. Despite the rise of the Internet age and the prevalence of email, conventional mailings are still highly successful.

This is because direct mailings can’t be deleted or filtered out before being looked at, so you have a guaranteed chance to try to get your message across. This is integral for political mail since even a glance can give you enough of an opportunity to state your case if the mailing is designed well. Additionally, political mail can be highly targetable based on things like gender, geography, household income, and other key demographic factors. This allows for a level of personalization to better connect with potential voters.

Election mail, meanwhile, helps your constituents make their voices heard. By helping citizens get registered or arrange for mail-in or absentee ballots, you can ensure that everyone who wants to vote for you can vote for you. As election laws, ballot rules, and voter eligibility measures have been in the news over the past few election cycles, the need for election mail is greater than ever. Voters may mistakenly think they are ineligible or have trouble understanding things like voter ID or registration requirements, so election mail can be a great way to ensure they are properly informed so no one has to be left out.

Hire a Political Direct Mail Firm

APS Fulfillment, Inc. provides direct mail services for political campaigns from our Miami, Florida location. We use custom printing to craft high-quality materials tailored to your specifications and designed to get your message out to voters in the best way possible. We also help ensure proper distribution of materials so your political mail gets sent to the right constituents in a timely and affordable manner. Contact us by phone at 954-582-7450 or by email at info@apsfulfillment.com to learn more about how we can help spread your message and engage and empower voters.