499 mail
n.— «Voters in the 8th Congressional District are getting thousands of pieces of official mail in the weeks leading up to the election from Dave Reichert’s Congressional office. The mail is “franked,” meaning Reichert pays no postage for sending the official mail to constituents. How can he do that when there is a ban on franked mass mailings within 90 days of an election? It’s not mass mail. Each of 130 different letters that have gone out since June go to no more than 499 people. And House rules in the franking manual define “mass mailing” as 500 or more pieces of mail. In the parlance of Capitol Hill, these are pieces of “499 mail.” House members can send out as much official mail as they like with no pre-election cut off as long as each letter goes to no more than 499 people.» —“Taxpayers fund election season mail” by David Postman Postman on Politics (Seattle, Washington) Nov. 3, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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