Daily printout: Dec. 4, 2024

The Postal Service processed 99.22 million ballots for last month’s general election, with 99.88 percent delivered from voters to election officials within seven days.

On average, completed ballots were delivered from voters to election officials within one day.

The data, which covers the period from Sept. 1 through Nov. 15, is included in a post-election analysis report that USPS released this week.

The report also shows 99.64 percent of ballots sent by voters to election officials were delivered within five days, while 97.73 percent of ballots sent by voters to election officials were delivered within three days.

The Postal Service also deployed extraordinary measures in the weeks before Election Day in areas of the Southeast that were devastated by hurricanes Helene and Milton. As a result, performance results for votes by mail from those affected areas were comparable with the rest of the nation, the report said.

The extraordinary measures included extra deliveries and collections, special pickups; specialized sorting plans at processing facilities to expedite delivery to local election boards; and local handling and transportation of ballots.

The organization delivered 3.37 billion pieces of Political Mail and Election Mail in 2024, according to the report.

The Postal Service report also offers recommendations to election officials in the nearly 8,000 election jurisdictions across the nation, including:

• Following and implementing the organization’s advice on mailpiece preparation;

• Applying visibility tools to Election Mail and Ballot Mail;

• Understanding postal operations; and

• Continuing voter education initiatives on state laws and reasonable mailing deadlines.

The organization’s Dec. 2 news release has more information.

Mr. ZIP, the beloved USPS character, makes a guest appearance on a holiday special featuring Blippi, a popular YouTube children’s star.

The special, “Blippi x Mr. ZIP Mail a Holiday Card,” begins with an animated sequence in which Mr. ZIP interacts with his pals, B. Franklin the eagle and Farley the collection box, then delivers a letter to Blippi’s PO Box.

Blippi then goes to the Post Office to retrieve the letter, where he meets several real-life Postal Service employees who show him how the organization works.

The 18-minute special was released Nov. 15 and has attracted more than 600,000 views.

Mr. ZIP’s appearance in the special is part of the Postal Service’s broader strategy to give the character new life and enter the world of licensed entertainment characters, the most lucrative segment of the licensing market.

The USPS licensing team worked with Moonbug Entertainment, the producer of the Blippi videos, on the special. Additional collaborations are planned.

“The Blippi holiday special is a crucial step in our larger licensing strategy to introduce the new, redesigned Mr. ZIP to kids and get them excited for what’s coming next,” said Amity Kirby, the USPS licensing and creative manager.

The Post Office Department adopted Mr. ZIP as a mascot in the 1960s to help introduce the nation to the ZIP Code.

In his new iteration — which also includes children’s books and toys — Mr. ZIP remains a teacher of sorts, helping kids learn how to be good members of their community.

The latest episode of the “Mailin’ It!” podcast features a discussion on holiday scams involving the mail, including guidance to avoid them.

The guest is Eric Shen, a postal inspector.

The 25-minute episode, released Dec. 3, is available on Link and other postal websites, as well as most podcast platforms.