Automated direct mail is another way in which an election management body (EMB) can use technology to reach voters.
Automated direct mail is made possible by electronic storing of name and address data in databases and/or spreadsheets. Word processing software or database reports can then be used to print personalised mail to persons listed in an electronic mailing list.
By sorting the data according to specified fields, direct mail can be personalised and targeted for each recipient. For example, where electoral boundaries have been redrawn, an EMB could use its voter registration database to write personalised letters to all registered voters whose electoral district has been changed, and inform them of their new district.
The content of automated direct mail can be altered according to criteria specified by the user. In the above example, the direct mail was personalised to indicate each voter's own district. In more sophisticated cases, the text of letters can be varied to take account of particular circumstances by using data contained in the mailing list database. For example, details of special electoral registration criteria applicable to individual cases can be varied in each letter according to each voter's enrolment registration category specified in the database.
It is usually practicable for an EMB to print small quantities of direct mail letters in-house. However, where many hundreds or thousands of letters are to be printed, it is often preferable to have the letters printed by a commercial mailing house. In this case, it is generally possible to supply the mailing house with the relevant database and master mail merge documents on disk or by email, with instructions for how the mail merge is to be conducted. The mailing house should then be able to print the letters using the EMB's electronic data. In this case it is very desirable for the EMB to check proofs of the merged data before the print run and the mailing takes place, to ensure that everything is correct.
Some commercial mailing houses are able to add value to automated direct mail by including various attachments or enclosures with mail merged letters. This could take the form of simply including a standard enclosure with a letter. More complex routines can be programmed into some mailing systems, so that particular letters can be coded to receive particular enclosures. For example, where an EMB has different enclosures targeted at voters registered in specific electoral districts, a mailing house can use a computerised insertion process to include the enclosure specific to each voter's electoral district.
