For months, President Trump has criticized attempts to strengthen mail voting, the warning of “electoral fraud” and “rigged elections.” Democrats have rejected what they call the president’s “unfounded” accusations and say Trump and the Republican Party are looking to suppress the vote.
COULD TRUMP’S ATTACKS ON THE RETURN OF THE POSTAL VOTE?
Election experts say mail voting is more likely to be a fraud issue than voting in person, however, they have not noticed evidence of widespread fraud or that mail voting favors Democrats. But the large accumulation of mail voting places an additional burden on state and county election officials and the U.S. postal service. They face monetary and hard-working deficits.
Here’s a look at the states that vote completely by mail and the states that allow the excuse to vote by mail.
Universal vote by mail
Five states have already voted completely by mail even before the pandemic. Twenty years ago, Oregon was the first state to adopt the universal postal vote. They were joined through Washington, Colorado, Utah and Hawaii. These states send ballots to all registered voters.
In the midst of the coronavirus, many states with Democratic and Republican governors have taken steps to make it less difficult to mail polls to voters. In June, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California enacted a law requiring his state to send a survey to each and every registered voter. Vermont and the District of Columbia are doing the same.
The Democratic governor of Nevada has issued an invoice sending ballots to all registered voters in this year’s general election. Trump’s re-election campaign, the Republican National Committee, and the state Republican Party filed a complaint against Nevada over the new law, saying the measure would undermine the “integrity” of the election.
Montana allows its counties to mail all registered voters, as they did in their June primary. Even though Montana will hold its elections almost entirely by mail, the state will continue to offer face-to-face voting at polling stations.
Voting through excuse by mail
Thirty-four states now allow others to vote through an absentee survey without having to give an excuse. This number is higher this year due to coronavirus. States that don’t want an excuse to vote by mail come with major general election battlefields in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Arizona, Georgia, Minnesota, Iowa and New Hampshire.
Some states allow the electorate to download ballots by mail than others. A handful of states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio, mail the entire registered electorate or at the maximum.
And some states offer a permanent list of absentees. When a voter requests to be on the list, that voter will get a mail-in poll for all long-term elections.
Excuse needed
Voters in 8 states want an excuse to get a vote by mail. Traditional excuses come with illness or army deployments. For the electorate in those states, face-to-face voting at polling stations remains the main option to vote.