[press release]
U.S. Postal Service Provides Recommendations for Successful 2020 Election Mail Season
WASHINGTON, DC — Today [May 29, 2020] the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) released a letter that is being sent to local and state election officials and state party officials around the country. This letter highlights key aspects of Election Mail delivery processes — and ways to help educate the public on what to expect when using the mail to vote.
The letter, signed by USPS General Counsel and Executive Vice President Thomas J. Marshall, is a continuation of an ongoing outreach effort aimed at educating all interested parties about the Postal Service’s mailing requirements and services in advance of the 2020 elections.
“It is critical that the Postal Service’s delivery standards be kept in mind when informing voters how to successfully participate in an election using the mail,” says Marshall, noting the importance of this information “when state and local election officials are making decisions as to the establishment of deadlines and the means used to send a piece of Election Mail to voters.”
The letter and the accompanying Publication 632, State and Local Election Mail — User’s Guide, are intended to provide boards of election and other election officials the tools needed to make the upcoming elections more successful when voting by mail. These guides are a follow-up to the more extensive 2020 Official Election Mail Kit (Kit 600), which was distributed to 11,500 election officials in March. All of these materials are also available on the Postal Service’s Election Mail website, about.usps.com/election-mail/election-mail-resources.htm.
Publication 632 includes an overview of how to properly use the mail during the election process, the mailing standards of the Postal Service, postmarking guidelines and the specifics of military, diplomatic and overseas mailing instructions. The Postal Service has personnel ready to assist election officials with mailpiece design and everything else needed for a successful election cycle.
The letter also provides Postal Service recommendations on how to ensure the efficient and timely handling of mail pertaining to elections. The Postal Service recommends that election officials use First-Class Mail, which is typically delivered in 2 to 5 days, for all Election Mail and to allow one week for delivery to voters. USPS further recommends election officials use Intelligent Mail barcodes for all Election Mail. The Postal Service has designed an Intelligent Mail barcode identifier specifically for ballots, to increase mailpiece visibility within the processing system. The identifier can be used by both the Postal Service and the mailer to track ballot deliveries and returns.
The letter notes that voters should be made aware of the mail delivery standards and transit times both when requesting an absentee ballot be mailed to them and when deciding when to mail the ballot back to election officials. The Postal Service recommends that voters mail their ballots at least one week before the due date and that they should contact local election officials for information about the specific deadlines.
The Postal Service is proud of its role as an important component of the nation’s democratic process and remains committed to providing the resources needed to implement a successful election season.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
Ukraine issued May 29th a “Frontline” stamp, which appears to honor workers in the battle against COVID-19. The stamp is covers the postage for mailing a letter within Ukraine. The postal agency has also produced a first day cover (shown below) and a maximum card (not shown) for this issue.
has been canceled. It would have been the largest stamp show of the year in the United States, and was sponsored by the American Philatelic Society, American Topical Association and the American First Day Cover Society.
of the world’s longest running TV continuing drama, Coronation Street.
Within months of its first broadcast, which went out live on Friday 9 December 1960, Coronation Street became the country’s most-watched programme and has remained in the top 10 most watched TV shows every week since. The authenticity of its characters and storytelling made ground-breaking British television as the drama portrayed working class lives for the first time on the small screen. Six decades later, the unforgettable storylines and original trademark northern wit are the epicentre of a programme which is now an international hit, selling to over 100 countries.
Coronation Street’s iconic characters are now part of British culture – Hilda Ogden despairing of her work-shy hubby Stan, Elsie Tanner and Ena Sharples’ bust-ups, Bet Lynch’s love life, the bond between Roy and Hayley Cropper, Rita and Mavis, the McDonalds, the Barlows and the Alahans… their stories have enthralled fans week after week.
played by William Roache, shown on the right – is still in the cast today, an international achievement noted by Guinness World Records.
Coronation Street has had many iconic double acts down the years. Indeed, it’s a defining feature of the show. I hope fans will agree that the ones we’ve chosen, after much heated debate, are among the best of the bunch. This fun idea is a great way to pay homage to the nation’s best loved soap and give lovers of Coronation Street a little smile when an envelope pops through their letterbox and they see their favourite characters looking up at them.
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A personalised (will include customer name & address) memento of the day of issue. Includes a filler card (described below) the full set of eight Special Stamps cancelled the with alternative postmark, location being Salford, home to the Coronation Street studios in Manchester. The picture uses the official Coronation Street logo, with the issue date being 28.5.20. The envelope design features the flying ducks, a familiar part of the set design from the early years and now considered a show icon.*Please see note about postmarking & product availability
The same as above but with the Tallents House postmark. Again, it includes the filler card and full set of eight Special Stamps cancelled by a handstamp which takes inspiration from the show’s famous title sequence. Location is Tallents House with issue date 28.5.20 *Please see not about postmarking and availability.
A personalised (will include customer name & address) memento of the day of issue.. Includes a filler card (described above) the stamp sheet, cancelled the with alternative postmark, location being Salford, home to the Coronation Street studios in Manchester. (Envelope & handstamp info same as stamps FDC)
The same as above but with the Tallents House postmark. Again, it includes the filler card and miniature sheet cancelled by a handstamp which takes inspiration from the show’s famous title sequence. Location is Tallents House with issue date 28.5.20 *Please see note about postmarking and availability.
The Hague, May 12, 2020 – Last May 5, the Netherlands celebrated the liberation of our country 75 years ago. Due to the coronavirus, all public events surrounding the May 5 celebration were canceled. Other initiatives can continue, such as the issue by PostNL of a special gold stamp.
the successor to the occasional postage stamps from 2017.
green, red and yellow have large eyes and a red mouth. The look in the eyes matches the accompanying emotion, just like the position of the mouth.
Suitable for any purpose
The stamp sheet For each moment there are 6 different stamps with the value indication Nederland 1, intended for mail up to and including 20 grams with a destination within the Netherlands. The stamps will be available from May 11, 2020 at Bruna stores and through the website. The stamps can also be ordered by telephone from the Collect Club customer service on telephone number 088 – 868 99 00. The period of validity is indefinite. 
The Hague, May 11, 2020 – For centuries, postal mail was distributed across Europe by postillions on horseback and by stagecoach. PostNL today releases 6 new stamps on which the old postal routes from the Habsburg Empire come to life again.
Studio026 from Arnhem has depicted this relay system by Von Thurn und Taxis on the stamp sheet Old Post Routes. The blue images on the stamps show both horses in motion and at rest. The large gold symbols, which follow from left to right with the horses and the stagecoach, also refer to the system of action and rest. There is a thin line with golden stripes between the images that depict the stops along the routes.
The mail was first transported by horse and rider, later by the stagecoach. Carriages, although slower than horses, took much more mail. Paying passengers also generated extra earnings. The motto for the postal couriers of Von Thurn und Taxis was cito, cito, cito, citissim! In other words: fast, fast, fast, super fast! “The concept was developed based on that credo,” says Anne Schaufeli of studio26. “That’s why the spell is so prominent on the sheet.”
(Experimental Wireless Apparatus) – the first station in Canada to receive an experimental radio licence. Although the ground-breaking broadcast was transmitted from the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of Canada’s factory studio in Montréal to the Naval Radio Service in Ottawa, a receiving station and large amplifier had been set up for the occasion in the hotel’s ballroom.
became the first licensed radio station in North America to offer French-language programming. While early enthusiasts were mostly amateurs who built their own equipment, radio caught on quickly with mainstream listeners. Within two years of Canada’s historic first broadcast, 34 radio stations were operating across the country. By the end of the decade, Canadians were tuning in on more than 300,000 radios.
Although the groundbreaking broadcast was transmitted from the Montréal studios to the Naval Radio Service in Ottawa, a receiving station and large amplifier had been set up for the occasion at the Château Laurier hotel. As reported in the Ottawa Journal by one of the journalists invited to listen in, when “the latest one-step” was played, the clarity was so impressive that several of the newspaper writers began to dance.
To create a stamp depicting the earliest days of radio, for which there was little original imagery available, Canada Post assembled a team of experts from academia, communications museums and vintage radio clubs to ensure visual accuracy and an authentic back story.
WASHINGTON – The Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service today announced its unanimous selection of Louis DeJoy to serve as the 75th Postmaster General of the United States and Chief Executive Officer of the world’s largest postal organization. DeJoy is an accomplished business executive with more than 35 years of experience. As Chairman and CEO of New Breed Logistics, DeJoy spent decades in collaboration with the U.S. Postal Service, Boeing, Verizon, Disney, United Technologies and other public and private companies to provide supply chain logistics, program management and transportation support. He is expected to begin serving in his new role effective June 15th.
Seven. Canada Post is celebrating this significant anniversary with a stamp issue featuring works by the Group’s seven founding members.
had drowned three years earlier – and encouraged by theirshared creative vision, the Group changed the way Canada was viewed at home and abroad. Their raw and daring depictions of the landscape gave birth to a unique Canadian aesthetic that influenced generations of artists.
the way for future exhibitions.
The issue includes a self-adhesive booklet and gummed mini-pane of seven Permanent domestic rate stamps and a set of seven Official First Day Covers (OFDCs) cancelled in locations significant to each artist. Using works drawn from six major Canadian galleries and photographs from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection Archives, the issue was designed by Lionel Gadoury, Andrew Conlon and Matthew Killin of Context Creative, and printed by Lowe-Martin.
social media as well as Canada Post’s Instagram account (@canadapostagram) and the accounts of several prominent Canadian galleries, including the AGO, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, the Ottawa Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University and the Vancouver Art Gallery, with the OFDCs unveiled on Thursday, May 7, by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. All stamps and collectibles will be available on Thursday, May 7, at 
