Last week the Swiss Post said it had sent out more than five million voting envelopes for the federal elections on October 22.
This amounted to around 2,000 tonnes of material, which was distributed around the country by almost 400 lorry loads.
In almost all cantons the envelope weighed 500g, Swiss Post wrote in a statement on Wednesday. Because uniform delivery deadlines apply throughout Switzerland for the elections, Swiss Post had to process the material within a week. The sorting machines were in operation almost non-stop for a fortnight. After that, the distribution was carried out by the postal workers.
Because about half of voters cast their ballots by post, there will be a large return of envelopes, which the Swiss Post employees will have to process again. Swiss Post assumes that more than one million envelopes with completed ballot papers will be returned to the municipalities by post, depending on the turnout.
To ensure that the ballots reach the polling stations on time, Swiss Post recommends sending the ballot papers either by A Mail no later than October 19 or by B Mail no later than October 17. B Mail items posted on Wednesday October 18 or later will not arrive at the municipality until after the election weekend and will therefore not be counted.