a design & print service exclusive to local authorities

Watch this 1st draft video of "How to complete your postal vote"

There will be a video of each of our 3 postal vote products and these will be available for Councils (who are customers of Print Image Network) to place on their website. The videos are simple, portray the basic information and are designed to help the elector and reduce calls to the electoral department. We are also able to print a QR Code on the Postal Vote Statement whereby electors can "zap" the code with their Smartphone and be taken straight to the video.

Please register - then you will be able to log in and view standard forms in the Print Library.
New forms will be added all the time, as soon as updates are available.

Quote: "We have never had so many postal votes returned, so quickly and so accurately" (City Council)

When originally designing these methods for postal vote packs we had three criteria to satisfy:-

1. Easy for the electorate to understand and use, thus increasing response.
2. Greater efficiency for Councils who prefer to issue their own ballot slips.
3. Quick, accurate and secure to produce enabling us to offer guaranteed matching of numbered components.

Method
We personalise one piece of paper which contains two peel-out, self adhesive, colour coded labels. These personalised labels are removed and affixed by the elector onto envelopes A & B. All the critical information therefore originates from the same sheet, completely removing the chance of mismatches as well as all the headaches associated with having to deal with separate envelopes, address carriers, postal vote statements and ballot papers.

Why Electors like it
Once the pack is received by the elector they simply sign the postal vote statement and peel off grey label A - affixing it to grey ballot paper envelope A. They then peel off lilac label B and affix it to lilac return envelope B. The ballot paper and postal vote statement are inserted as normal. In practice, the electorate have found the simple colour coding extremely easy to understand leaving the Electoral Department staff free of enquiring telephone calls.

Why the Councils like it
If you are issuing your own ballot papers, we make the job so much easier. We laser the ballot paper number(s) at the head of the address carrier so they can be easily seen and verified before the ballot paper is inserted. Feedback shows that City Councils having allowed four days for issuing have brought their Royal Mail collection forward by two days. To make it even easier, we can laser ballot paper numbers in the window of the outer envelope (although they are not readily identified as such).

All boxes are clearly labelled with the numbering range and ward details and we can include any other identifying details as required.

With Easi-Ballot we personalise the form as for Easi-Vote but also include the ballot slip on the SAME PIECE OF PAPER. Ballot paper images are created digitally and tagged to the electorate in a particular ward within the data, thereby guaranteeing that every voter receives the correct ballot paper. When folded and trimmed, the ballot paper is slit from the postal vote statement but crucially, remains securely nested within the folded piece. Audit checks can be carried out on-site by the council prior to posting or the finished packs can be delivered to the council for final quality checks.

Why we like it !
We manufacture all the base stock including the integral self adhesive labels, well in advance of the election. We study test data and supply proofs in plenty of time. This means that when live data is received, we can concentrate on the core activity. As the pack undergoes all manufacturing BEFORE being lasered, the integrity of the pack is maintained from the outset leaving no complex folding, gluing or matching to do after personalisation.

Please ask if you would like recommendations or testimonials and we will be delighted to give names of all the people who use our products. Email your request to sales@printimagenetwork.com

By-elections
We offer a complete package for the production of By-election postal vote packs, ballot papers and poll cards. Self-seal envelopes are supplied ready filled with all the necessary components for you to add the ballot paper - or we can do this for you too if preferred. Poll cards are lasered directly from your data (including maps) and mailed out within a week.

Poll Cards
We provide a full and complete poll card service from data to mail with an average turnaround of one week. All manner of sizes and colour schemes have been supplied and include the addition of polling station maps.

Our unique poll card product "combi-poll" provides a poll card with an integral, pre-paid return postal vote request form which requires no separate envelope.

Ballot Books
Our service extends to the provision of all ballot books- both Ordinary and Tendered. We can also use different colours of paper to denote different elections - especially where combined elections are taking place. All books can be stitched at left with card covers showing the number range contained within. Books can be delivered in boxes, per polling station and wrapped with a sheet informing you of the contents. If an official mark is required then just let us know and we can incorporate when printing the ballot slips. Features applicable to new legislation such as security marks, barcodes and printed water marks are all catered for.

Electoral Registration
Our involvement with the annual canvass stretches back some 14 years and we are privileged to have a growing list of regular clients who trust us to handle their work. We are well versed with the main electoral registration software packages and offer a complete solution from form design and Plain English accreditation, through to despatch by Royal Mail. For further details or a copy of our Electoral Registration Manual, email your request to: sales@printimagenetwork.com

Awards
Winner of the Government Opportunities Excellence in Public Procurement Award 2008. Best Print & Facilities Management Company 2005 and 2008 (Independent Print Industries Association). Innovation & Creativity in a direct mail piece (Postal Voting) - Winner 2005 (Spotlight Awards).

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