Ballot makers get business by submitting bids to local governments. Printers are typically paid for each ballot mailed, and expected to be able to handle all ballot requests a local government receives. Maryland, with about four million registered voters, expects to pay about $11 million to print and mail request forms and ballots to voters, plus nearly $2 million for return postage.
Cleveland-based Midwest Direct plans to print four million ballots this year, about 1.8 million of which are expected to be mailed to voters. That is up from 300,000 mail-in ballots out of the three million Midwest Direct printed overall in 2016, according to CEO Richard Gebbie.
Mr. Gebbie said his factory is running near capacity and that he recently turned down a county in northeast Ohio seeking a ballot printer. “We’ve got to have a little safety valve here and say we’re just not going to take any more,” he said.
We know being a vote-by-mail ballot provider can be challenging in “normal” election cycles. Election 2020 brings with it all the regular challenges along with new urgency, regulations, and demand. Now, more than ever, you need an experienced ballot partner to guide you through the process.
Learn more about the difficulties the country faces with Vote-By-Mail and how Midwest Direct is prepared to help you overcome these challenges.
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