Ballotpedia recently Completed an Analysis of Rejection Rates in 2020’s General Election which determined that 0.8% of the 70,550,699 Absentee/Mail-In Ballots Cast were Rejected.
By Comparison, 1.4% of the 30.4 Million Absentee/Mail-In Ballots Cast in 2018 were Rejected, and 1.0% of 33.4 Million such Ballots were Rejected in 2016.
Their Analysis of Turnout and Absentee/Mail-In Data is based on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's (EAC) Annual "Election Administration and Voting Survey" Released on August 16th with State-Level Data.
Absentee/Mail-In Ballots can be Rejected for a Number of Reasons, ranging from a Missed Deadline to the use of an Incorrect Return Envelope.
The Exact Criteria for Rejecting an Absentee/Mail-In Ballot is determined on a State-by-State Basis.
In 2020, the most Common Reason for Rejection was a Non-Matching Signature. This accounted for 32.8% of All Rejected Ballots.
All States allow for some form of Absentee/Mail-In Voting, and many Implemented or Changed Policies regarding Absentee/Mail-In Voting, in 2020, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Breakdown of Absentee/Mail-In Voting Practices used in 2020:
- Nine States and Washington, D.C., used an Automatic Absentee/Mail-In Ballot System. In Five of those and Washington, D.C., this was in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
- Five States required Voters to provide an Approved Reason in order to receive an Absentee/Mail-In Ballot and had done so since at least 2016.
- Thirty-Six States either Allowed Voters to Request an Absentee/Mail-In Ballot without providing a Reason or Expanded the Reasons to include Fear of Contracting or Spreading the Coronavirus.
- In 11 of these States, this Eligibility was either Expanded or effectively Expanded to All Voters in 2020 in response to COVID-19.
From 2018 to 2020, the Percentage of Rejected Absentee/Mail-In Ballots Increased in Eight States and Decreased in 41. Alabama was Excluded due to Incomplete Data.
The Three States with the Largest Increases in Rejection Rates since 2018 were:
- New Mexico (+4.7)
- Mississippi (+1.6)
- Oregon (+0.7)
The Three States with the Largest Decreases in Rejection Rates since 2018 were:
- New York (-10.1)
- Kentucky (-6.3)
- North Carolina (-5.3)
Absentee/Mail-In Ballot Rejection Rates by Presidential Candidates:
- Voters returned 17.3 Million Absentee/Mail-In Ballots in the 25 States won by Trump (R) in 2020. Of that Total, 100,598 were Rejected for an Overall Rejection Rate of 0.6%.
- Biden (D) won 25 States and Washington, D.C., which, collectively, saw 53.2 Million Absentee/Mail-In Ballots Returned. Of that Total, 460,045 were Rejected, giving those States an Overall Rejection Rate of 0.9%.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
No comments:
Post a Comment