How it Works
In a full vote-at-home elections system, every registered voter automatically receives a ballot by mail for every election with ample time to return their ballot using a wide range of convenient and secure return options. Voters also benefit from robust ballot tracking and cure processes so they can have confidence their vote is counted and can easily correct any issues with their ballot.
All 50 states already permit people to vote at home (otherwise known as vote by mail) to some degree. However, states differ by how broadly they offer mail ballots to voters and how they administer their mail-ballot programs. Becoming a full vote-at-home state is a journey; depending on where the state is on its mail-balloting path, it may not have the ability to successfully scale up to full vote-at-home status with the flip of a switch. In other words, states with permanent absentee lists or greater usage of mailed out ballots have a greater capacity to begin conducting all mail elections than states with fewer mail voters or that still require an excuse to vote by mail.
Vote at Home is a Time-Tested Way to Boost Turnout Across Demographics
Mail-ballot access makes voting fair and equitable for all voters. Robust vote-at-home systems increase turnout across demographics — regardless of party affiliation — while maintaining security and instilling confidence in the results.
Many of the full vote-at-home states that have been conducting mail-ballot elections for decades often boast some of the highest turnout in the country, and benefit from even greater voter participation in primaries and local elections. A recent study of mail-ballot use and voter participation in 2020 found that turnout increased an average of 5.6% during the 2020 presidential election in states that mailed a ballot to every registered voter. Notably, researchers found that areas where mail ballots had the greatest impact were in jurisdictions with little experience with mail ballot usage beyond military and overseas voters. In these cases, sending mail ballots to low-propensity voters boosted turnout by 6-8%, demonstrating that systems in which voters are automatically mailed ballots can have a significant effect on reaching under-engaged communities.
That same study found vote-at-home policies “…do not have partisan effects, and in many models they tilt the results in a more Republican direction.” And research conducted by Stanford University’s Institute for Economic Policy Research in 2020 found that voting by mail favors neither Democrats nor Republicans.
Vote at home has also been embraced by voters of color. Deliver My Vote Education Fund, a nonpartisan nonprofit, found that mail-ballot usage among Black voters in 2020 skyrocketed. In Michigan, for instance, absentee voting among Black voters increased by nearly 47%. Similarly in Pennsylvania, use of mail ballots among Black voters rose to 42%, while mail-ballot use among Asian American and Pacific Islander voters increased nearly 56%. Similar trends were found for Latino voters.
Voting at Home Isn’t Just a West Coast Phenomenon
Though it’s true that the Northeast and South have lagged behind the West in recent years when it comes to giving their voters convenient access to mail ballots, vote-at-home systems are not just a product of West Coast innovation. Vermont, for instance, became a full vote-at-home state in 2021, and the District of Columbia is poised to become the next vote-at-home destination. Virginia, which just held a gubernatorial election, has a no excuse, permanent mail ballot option. Plus, numerous jurisdictions across the U.S. permit vote-by-mail elections for certain elections.
Learn more about the secret success of mailed out ballot access policies nationwide from National Vote at Home Institute.
Today, New York is only one of only 16 states that require an excuse for their voters to obtain a ballot by mail.*
Despite Rampant Misinformation, Vote at Home is Secure
Misinformation and disinformation emanating from the 2020 presidential election persists. However, independent research shows mail-in voting is secure. According to findings by election security expert and Towson University professor Natalie M. Scala, underscore what election officials across the country have claimed for nearly two years – the 2020 presidential election was the most secure election in our country’s history.
“What we found in our study is that the dramatic scale-up of mail voting in the 2020 election did not increase risk,” said Scala. “We argue that expanding mail voting is safe and should be used moving forward because it increases voter access and reduces the likelihood of adversarial interference.”
Check out the study here.
*In January, New York State approved COVID-19 as an excuse for voters to request a mail ballot for the 2022 elections only.
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