Voting by post is a popular option: around 90% of voters in Switzerland prefer to submit their votes by post. Depending on how many people vote, this could be as many as two million. Swiss Post will do everything it can to forward voters' envelopes to the municipalities on time. Here, it relies on the support of the voters themselves. Swiss Post recommends that voters plan to mail their ballot sheets so that they will reach their municipality by no later than the Friday before the election weekend.

Please note the following dates for the Federal parliamentary elections on 23 October 2011:

• Mailing by A Mail: by Thursday, 20 October 2011 at the latest
  (A Mail consignments mailed on Friday will be delivered on Saturday. Many municipalities are closed on Saturdays).
• Mailing by B Mail: by Tuesday, 18 October 2011 at the latest
  (B Mail consignments that are mailed on Wednesday or later will only reach
  the municipality after the election weekend).
• The collection times indicated on the letterboxes apply.

If a second round of voting is required in individual cantons for the Council of States, similar mailing times will apply.

Please note: If the reply envelope with the ballot sheet is insufficiently franked or reaches the municipality too late, the latter can refuse the consignment. In such cases, the vote cannot be counted.