Voting by mail has been a necessary aspect of our voting system since the era of the Civil War. Today, every state uses some form of Vote by Mail, most commonly in the form of absentee ballots. Who can access absentee or mail ballots, and for what reason, varies by state; sometimes an excuse is required, like being out of town or unable to access a polling place for health reasons.

Eight states (including Colorado, Utah, Vermont) and D.C. have a universal Vote by Mail system where voters have ballots automatically delivered to their home. Seven states, including Arizona, Illinois, and New Jersey, offer voters the option to join a permanent absentee voter list and receive ballots automatically going forward. Twenty states allow voters to request an absentee ballot with no excuse required. [source]

The presidential election of 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic forced all states to rely more on their vote by mail infrastructure than ever before, with 43% of voters casting a ballot by mail.

Yes! In fact, states with universal vote by mail tend to have more secure systems than those that don’t. Here’s why:

• Every ballot is a paper-verified ballot, meaning that all votes can be audited and recounted if necessary
• Only registered voters are mailed a ballot
• Signatures are cross-referenced with voter registrations to ensure accuracy
• Ballots with missing or invalid signatures are rejected
• Officials regularly conduct risk-limiting audits to ensure integrity, security, and an accurate count

We support expanded drop box use. Drop boxes are another secure and convenient way for voters to cast their ballots.

Drop boxes are physically secure, are often equipped with video surveillance and many jurisdictions have a chain of custody procedure in place to make sure no ballots are tampered with and all are accounted for.

As we’ve seen time and time again across many different issues, it can be difficult to get Congress to act on good ideas for the entire country. It’s why RepresentUs pursues a strategy of working city by city, state by state to enact reforms and build momentum for change to happen at the national level.