Five States currently conduct All Elections entirely by Mail: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, and Utah. At least 21 other States have Laws that allow certain Smaller Elections, such as School Board Contests, to be conducted by Mail. For these Elections, All Registered Voters receive a Ballot in the Mail. The Voter Marks the Ballot, puts it in a Secrecy Envelope or Sleeve, and then into a Separate Mailing Envelope, Signs an Affidavit on the Exterior of the Mailing Envelope, and Returns the Package via Mail or by Drop Box.
Vote-by-Mail are mailed out well ahead of Election Day, and thus Voters have an “election period,” not just a Single Day, to Vote. All-Mail Elections can be thought of as Absentee Voting for Everyone. Some States have developed Ballot Tracking or use the Postal Tracking System. Some just tracks that the Ballot arrived, but others also working on notifying the Voter their Ballot was Counted.
Possible Advantages - Voter Convenience and Satisfaction, Citizens can Vote at Home and take all the time they need to Study the Candidates and Issues. Financial Savings, No longer need to Staff traditional Polling Places with Poll Workers and Buy Voting Machines, except for Counting the Ballots. Reports indicate that because of the Convenience, Voter Turnout Increases. Paper Ballots for Auditing and Recounts.
Possible Disadvantages - The Civic experience of Voting with Neighbors at a Local School, Church, or other Polling Place no longer exists. Mail Delivery is Not uniform across the Nation. Native Americans on Reservations may in particular have Difficulty with All-Mail Elections. Many do not have Street Addresses, and their P.O. Boxes may be Shared. Literacy can be an issue for some Voters, as well. Election Materials are often written at a College Level.Then there is the Language problem, how many different Languages will a State have to Print and do you add Language to the Ballot Request?
Security — During All-Mail Elections and Absentee Voting, Coercion by Family Members or Others might occur or Fraudulent Signatures.
Financial Considerations — All-Mail Elections greatly Increase Printing Costs for an Election though Off-set by Reduced Equipment and Poll Workers Cost. Additionally, Jurisdictions must have Appropriate Scanning Equipment to Read Paper Ballots at a Central Location.
Slow Vote Counting — All-Mail Elections may Slow down the Vote Counting Process, especially if a State's Policy is to allow Ballots Postmarked by Election Day to be Received and Counted in the days and weeks after the Election.
States that Conduct All Elections by Mail:
Colorado
Hawaii
Oregon
Utah
Washington
States that Permit Counties to Opt into Conducting All Elections by Mail:
California: Any County may conduct Any Election as an All-Mail Election following Statutory Guidelines.
Nebraska: Any County of Less than 10,000 Inhabitants may apply to the Secretary of State to Mail Ballots for All Elections in lieu of establishing Polling Places.
North Dakota: Counties may conduct any Election by Mail. Applications for Mailed Ballots are sent to each Individual Listed on the Central Voter File. North Dakota does Not Require Voter Registration ahead of the Election, but there must be One or More Polling Places in the County for Voting in the usual manner.
States that permit some Elections to be conducted by Mail:
Alaska: Elections that are Not held on the Same Day as a General, Party Primary, or Municipal Election.
Arizona: A City, Town, School District, or Special District may conduct Elections by Mail.
Florida: Referendum Elections at the County, City, School District, or Special District Level.
Kansas: Nonpartisan Elections at which No Candidate is Elected, Retained, or Recalled, and which is Not held on the Same Date as another Election.
Maryland: Special Elections Not held concurrently with a Regularly Scheduled Primary or General Election.
Missouri: Nonpartisan Issue Elections at which No Candidate is Elected, Retained, or Recalled, and in which All Qualified Voters of One Political Subdivision are the Only Voters Eligible to Vote.
Montana: Any Election other than a Regularly Scheduled Federal, State, or County Election; a Special Federal or State Election, unless Authorized by the Legislature; or a Regularly Scheduled or Special Election when another Election in the Political Subdivision is taking place at the Polls on the same day.
Wyoming: Counties may decide to conduct Special Elections Not held in Conjunction with a Primary, General, or Statewide Special Election entirely by Mail.
States that permit certain Jurisdictions or Portions of a Jurisdiction to be designated as All-Mail based on Population:
Idaho: A Precinct which contains no more than 140 Registered Electors at the last General Election may be Designated by the Board of County Commissioners a Mail Ballot Precinct no later than April 1st in an Even-Numbered year.
Minnesota: Elections conducted by a Municipality having Fewer than 400 Registered Voters on June 1st of an Election year and Not Located in a Metropolitan County.
Nevada: Whenever there were Not more than 20 Voters Registered in a Precinct for the Last Preceding General Election.
New Jersey: A Municipality with a Population of 500 or Fewer Persons, according to the Latest Federal Decennial Census, may Conduct All Elections by Mail.
New Mexico: A County may Designate a Precinct as a Mail Ballot Election Precinct if it has Fewer than 100 Voters and the Nearest Polling Place for an Adjoining Precinct is more than 20 Miles Driving Distance from the Precinct Boundary in question.
The Covid-19 Virus will temporally change how States handle Voting by Mail.
To Change the U.S. to an All Mail Voting System will require: a better Security System that the Ballot came from the Eligible Voter in the State's Voter Database; and a Tracking System that allows the Voter to know the Ballot was Received and Counted.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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