--- title: Here's How Many Stamps You Need to Mail an Absentee Ballot description: Are you voting by mail in the 2018 midterms? Here's how many stamps you need for absentee or mail-in ballots. canonical: https://time.com/4547550/absentee-mail-ballot-postage-stamp-postal-service-usps/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-27T17:05:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T16:55:46.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Postal Service Will Deliver Your Mail-In Ballot Without a Stamp og:description: It's official USPS policy. og:url: https://time.com/4547550/absentee-mail-ballot-postage-stamp-postal-service-usps/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d5bcfbbc3424660/6988abc5bc6cfcf96b3df175/gettyimages-587462670-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: United States Postal Service (USPS) mailman Mike Micali makes deliveries in Flemington, New Jersey, U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Postal Service Will Deliver Your Mail-In Ballot Without a Stamp twitter:description: It's official USPS policy. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d5bcfbbc3424660/6988abc5bc6cfcf96b3df175/gettyimages-587462670-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Yes, the Post Office Will Still Deliver Your Mail-In Ballot Without a Stamp > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:55 PM UTCPublished: Oct 27, 2016 5:05 PM UTC  United States Postal Service (USPS) mailman Mike Micali makes deliveries in Flemington, New Jersey, U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016. United States Postal Service (USPS) mailman Mike Micali makes deliveries in Flemington, New Jersey, U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016. Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:55 PM UTCPublished: Oct 27, 2016 5:05 PM UTC With [millions of Americans voting by mail](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/21/for-many-americans-election-day-is-already-here/) in the 2018 midterm elections, the hunt for a stamp has replaced the “I Voted” sticker as a marker of the election. But how many stamps do you need to mail in a ballot? Turns out, none at all. If you forget to put one on — or you don’t get the right amount of postage — your mail carrier will still deliver it. The [U.S. Postal Service’s official policy](https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2014/pb22391/html/cover%5F003.htm) is to deliver all absentee and mail-in ballots, regardless of whether they have proper postage, according to spokeswoman Sue Brennan. If there’s no stamp or not enough postage, the Postal Service charges the local board of elections instead. “Technically, sending mail requires postage,” Brennan told TIME in an email. “Voters should affix a stamp to their ballot. But, if they do not, the Postal Service will still deliver it and charge the postage to the appropriate office.” That doesn’t apply if you’re sending your ballot from overseas or a non-Postal Service facility, where you’ll definitely need to attach the correct postage, however. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia allow no-excuse absentee ballots, while 20 states allow voters to request them if they have a reason. Washington, Oregon and Colorado vote [entirely by mail](https://www.cpr.org/news/story/colorado-ballots-are-in-the-mail-so-election-2016-just-became-a-marathon). In 2012, [more than 6 million domestic voters mailed in their ballots](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/21/for-many-americans-election-day-is-already-here/), while another 23 million sent them from overseas, including military bases. Postal Service policy is that ballots [“must never be returned”](https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2014/pb22391/html/cover%5F003.htm) because of a lack of a stamp. Some voters are also finding that putting just the right stamp on their ballot is one more way to express their feelings on the midterm elections. One popular choice is Wonder Woman. > [](https://twitter.com/JournoPalmer/status/1055685560444940288) > [](https://twitter.com/jenwhitedop/status/1055271805231874049) > [](https://twitter.com/encinitian/status/1057320070458667008) Another voter went for Mr. Rogers. > [](https://twitter.com/MelissaRoske/status/1057357317962915845) But pioneering astronaut Sally Ride also got a shout-out. > [](https://twitter.com/kejames/status/1055969982507597825) > [](https://twitter.com/shelbymorrow10/status/787008729472434176) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4547550/absentee-mail-ballot-postage-stamp-postal-service-usps/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4547550/absentee-mail-ballot-postage-stamp-postal-service-usps/"},"headline":"Yes, the Post Office Will Still Deliver Your Mail-In Ballot Without a Stamp","datePublished":"2016-10-27T17:05:09.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T16:55:46.000Z","description":"Are you voting by mail in the 2018 midterms? 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