Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate honored the U.S. Postal Service district that covers most of Iowa for its efforts in during the 2020 elections. Pate presented a National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Medallion Award to the USPS Hawkeye District during a ceremony at the State Capitol on Tuesday.
During the 2020 primary and general elections, the Secretary of State’s Office mailed nearly five million election-related pieces to Iowans. Successful delivery of these pieces during the pandemic helped reduce crowds and lines at Iowa polling places and led to record turnout for Iowa’s June primary and November general election.
“The Hawkeye District is consistently rated one of the best in nation and they showed us why they deserve that distinction in 2020,” Secretary Pate said. “The Postal Service stepped up and helped ensure we had a clean, smooth election in Iowa. They deserve our gratitude and I’m thrilled to honor them with a NASS Medallion Award.”
More than one million Iowans voted absentee in the 2020 general election, and more than 1.7 million Iowans participated, shattering the all-time state record for turnout. It is vital that voters trust they can put their voted absentee ballot in the same mailbox they received it in, or any one of Iowa’s 4,000+ blue drop boxes.
“The Postal Service has an outstanding partnership with the Iowa Secretary of State and the local election officials throughout Iowa. I am extremely proud of the 8,000 postal employees throughout the state who remained vigilant in their mission to “bind the nation together” and deliver absentee ballots and election mail to our customers,” said Jim Herrmann, USPS Hawkeye District manager.
The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office mailed absentee ballot request forms to all active registered voters ahead of the June primary and November general election, as well as an Election Day voter’s guide in October to 800,000 voters who did not request an absentee ballot by mail. Another mailing for Iowans who were eligible to vote but not registered was delivered to approximately 80,000 Iowans in September 2020.
“I was extremely proud of the way our various departments worked together as a team to ensure we delivered critical information into the hands of voters. From development through delivery, the 2020 election cycle ran smooth here in Iowa due to the attention to detail and daily collaboration between the Postal Service and the Iowa Secretary of State,” said, Nancy Hoerner-Ronek, sales executive generalist for the USPS Hawkeye District.
The NASS Medallion Award was created to honor individuals, groups or organizations with an established record of promoting the goals of the National Association of Secretaries of State.
