The exercise
Module 1 asks participants to map their own jurisdiction’s mail-ballot custody transfers and mark each one documented, partially documented, or undocumented. The assessment is the completed map. This produces one.
The sequence this map is drawn from
Section 1.1 of the white paper lists the lifecycle in eleven steps. The briefing deck compresses two of the postal steps and lists ten. Both are inside “eight to twelve” — the count depends on how a jurisdiction segments its own handling, which is itself the reason nobody agrees on the number.
- Print vendor receives the voter file extract and produces the ballot package
- Package enters the postal stream outbound, acquiring an Intelligent Mail Barcode
- USPS processes it through one or more facilities
- The voter receives, marks, and returns it — by mail or to a drop box
- USPS processes it inbound, or a two-person team retrieves the drop box
- The election office receives and logs it
- Signature verification
- Sorting and batching
- Extraction — the envelope and ballot are separated, permanently severing the link to the voter
- Tabulation
- Storage under federal and state retention requirements