How Vote By Mail is Changing the 2020 Election Landscape
Vote by mail policies have always been complicated, and now COVID-19 is further amplifying existing difficulties.
There is no standard template for a state’s vote by mail laws, no one size fits all policy guide that states can turn to at this moment. Policies and procedures vary from state to state, and even differ at the individual county or local level.
We see a patchwork approach to vote by mail policies and systems because our political system is a combination of centuries of experimentation and a foundation built on federalism. Beginning as early as the 1800’s, our country has been discussing, implementing, and revising vote by mail laws, often in times of great crisis. Vote by mail was originally conceived as a way for soldiers during the Civil War, from both the Confederate and the Union, to vote while away on the battlefield. Absentee ballots were revisited again during the Second World War, and numerous times since.
In response to COVID-19, many states are expanding access to mail-in ballots, which means millions of voters will navigate a new voting process for the first time. These changes are coming in a variety of ways, through legislation, executive order, and/or judicial rulings, and are playing a key role in the making of these overhauls.
What’s more, policies are shifting between and within states at unprecedented levels. Such as in Texas and other states, where a number of lawsuits related to vote by mail and absentee voting rights have reached stalemates in the courts, delaying decisions and the voter education across the state. It is due to the variant nature of state-by-state vote by mail that it is critical to understand each state's unique needs and processes. For example:
In Oklahoma and other states, voters are required to have their absentee ballot notarized to verify their excuse.
In Wisconsin and other states, state law requires that absentee voters find another person to sign as a witness affirming that they filled out their own ballot properly.
In Texas, voters must prove that they will be unable to vote not only on Election Day but for the entirety of early voting.
In Missouri, some counties will accept emailed ballot requests while others will not. In this past June election, Missouri counties also differed over whether coronavirus was a valid excuse to vote absentee.
In Florida, each county has its own absentee ballot request form and often, these forms require different data to be entered across different counties.
Texas is currently one of the more stringent states in the US when it comes to permitting absentee voting. However, the clerk of Harris County has stated publicly her intent to honor any voter's wish to vote absentee during the pandemic.
All of this is a lot for political organizations - not to mention voters to navigate. It’s complicated. But there are some big picture trends that we see repeating themselves across the country: all mail-in elections, expanded excuse absentee, and expanded valid excuse absentee.
Resources are often scattered in different places, or simply nonexistent, BallotReady is stepping up this election cycle, releasing a request a ballot tool based on county-level research, that allows voters to digitally sign and submit an absentee request form where applicable or receive a mailed copy with a stamped envelope to forward on to the county.
Learn more about state-by-state vote by mail guidelines and our Vote By Mail Engine here.