How to Choose Reliable Election Printing Partners

Election printing is no easy feat. It requires a commercial printing team with the proper equipment and industry expertise. But you can’t pick just any partner. You need a reliable election printing partner who is capable of producing high-volume prints, meets every deadline and knows what materials to use for each use case. Here’s how to choose a reliable election printing partner, whether you need to print voter pamphlets, election ballots or any other government materials.

Warning Signs to Look for in an Election Printing Partner

If your current printing partner lacks communication with your team or struggles to meet deadlines, that’s a huge red flag. Some other common warning signs to look for in your election printer include:

• Poor communication after signing on
• No election or political printing experience

• Not offering heatset printing

• Abysmal quality control standards
• Not meeting election deadlines

Any single issue or combination of problems with election prints can throw off timing, inhibit voter education and lead to a decline in voter trust. Choosing a reliable election printing partner can make a positive difference in timing, quality, accuracy and more.

Related Content: 5 Things the Best Election Printing Partners Do Differently

How to Choose a Reliable Election Printing Partner

1. Validate Past Election Printing Experience

The biggest indicator that a potential election printing partner is credible and trustworthy is to validate their past experience. Some of the best partners will have a wealth of knowledge in the election printing industry. They already know:

• What your prints need to meet guidelines
• Seasonal and annual election schedules
• Who your audience is and what they need
• How to translate text into various languages
• Exact measurements for government prints

With a great printing partner, that’s just the beginning of their knowledge. Compared to a traditional printing company that doesn’t usually work with government prints and election materials, the right partner will give you a leg up, reduce friction and make your life (and commercial printing necessities) easier.

2. Ensure Production Capacity Fits Your Needs

Not only do voters’ pamphlets and election materials contain hundreds or thousands of prints and multiple language translations, but they also need to be printed on time to keep delivery on schedule.

If your current election printing partner is struggling to keep up with your project needs, it might be due to a few different factors:

• Older, slower and more outdated equipment
• High demand paired with supply delays
• Not enough operators and workers
• Mishandled project scheduling and slow proofing
• Minimal knowledge in specific print fields

While most printers have the basics down, few are specialized in election printing in particular. Others might only have the bare-bones minimum printing services, while others have a full-service commercial printing company.

The best way to circumnavigate these challenges is to find a specialized election printing partner. The knowledge and expertise alone can help improve printing and delivery speeds.

3. Look for Quality Control Procedures at Each Step

Commercial printing partners who check the design once at the start and never again often run into issues later on. The best election printing partners offer a quality control check at every stage:

• Pre-Press: During the design and proofing stage, reliable print partners will offer checks before the next step. They routinely check for resolution quality, how colors transfer from digital to print, ensure fonts and grammar are accurate and check that the design matches the print and initial project ask.
• On-Press: Before the design goes to press, the design should go through an internal and external client approval process to ensure everything is accurate. Once it’s on press, a great print partner will also check the first prints to ensure everything is going according to plan.
• Post-Press: After everything has been printed, the right partner still won’t be done with their quality check. They inspect during and after the assembly process to ensure trimming, folding, binding and other processes are done correctly.

This 3-step quality control check helps determine basic printers from high-quality election printing partners you can rely on.

4. Check for Other Included Services

While some print partners only offer printing services, the most reliable election printing partner often offers every step of the process. With all services included, it expedites the process, ensuring that election prints are delivered according to schedule.

Other common services included with election printing include:

• Election Print Design: The best election printing partner offers design that matches the brand and government guidelines for prints.

• Election Printing: High-volume commercial prints are sent to press quickly and finished just as fast when everything is in the same facility.

• Election Print Finishing: Election printing partners with assembly and finishing services can immediately start folding, trimming, binding and more as soon as materials are off the press.

• Election Print Delivery: After assembling, delivery drivers get your finished product right to the doors of your audience quickly and on schedule.

This combination of services means that you can often find printing offers on large orders, everything from design to delivery is done in one place, more time is saved and election prints are more likely to be delivered on time.

5. Verify Schedules and Processes Align

Before choosing a printing partner, one of the most important things to check is that their schedules and processes align with what you need. While everything else could match up, this is one of the most important factors to consider that makes or breaks your partner selection.

If you choose one of your cheapest local printing partners but they can’t meet your election printing demand or the results are unreliable, it’s not worth it. If the print partner’s schedule doesn’t align, you might be forced to be ready well ahead of time or send out prints too late.

The other important check is processes. If you like a lot of communication but the print partner you’re communicating with isn’t getting back to you in a timely manner, that shows how your relationship could look later on. It’s crucial to check that your election prints are in their capacity and that their process works with what you need.

Find a Reliable Election Printing Partner

Understanding how to choose a reliable election printing partner can lead to higher quality, on-time projects and greater success with the general public. To find a reliable election printing partner in your local area, it helps to search for a partner with knowledge in the government printing industry.

Here at Signature Graphics, we offer all-in-one commercial printing services for elections, government materials and more. With design, print, assembly and delivery services in one place, we aim to make the process faster, easier and more successful.

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