US States and Voting by Mail

[lpetrich]

Vote by mail: Which states allow absentee voting - Washington Post
[TABLE="class: grid"]
[TR]
[TD]Vote by mail?
[/TD]
[TD]Pop
[/TD]
[TD]States
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Auto mail: Ballot
[/TD]
[TD]43M
[/TD]
[TD]CA* CO DC* HI OR UT VT WA
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Auto mail: Application
[/TD]
[TD]42M
[/TD]
[TD]DE* IA* IL* MA* MD* MI* OH* WI*
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Can vote by mail
[/TD]
[TD]94M
[/TD]
[TD]AK AL* AR* AZ FL GA ID KS ME MN MO* MT NC ND NE NH* NJ NM NV OK PA RI SD TN* VA WY
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Need more than COVID-19
[/TD]
[TD]54M
[/TD]
[TD]CT IN KY LA MS NY SC TX WV
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
A * means changed because of COVID-19. In NY, Gov. Cuomo made a temporary exception for the virus.

For postal-first states such as Hawaii and Oregon, it took years to fully adapt, according to Tammy Patrick, a former election official who is now a senior adviser at the nonprofit Democracy Fund. A timeline for election officials put together by the Department of Homeland Security showed that the process for expanding mail-in voting should have begun in April. Patrick says it’s still possible for states to adapt, but “time is running out to make any of these changes.”

 

[lpetrich]

 Convenience voting - "Convenience voting is any form of voting that does not occur on the day of the election at the voting precinct."

Includes  Early voting,  Electronic voting,  Absentee ballot, and  Postal voting.

Focusing on  Postal voting in the United States and  Postal voting in the 2020 United States elections - Absentee/mail-in voting - Ballotpedia and All-mail voting - Ballotpedia

It has long been possible to cast an absentee ballot if one is stationed abroad or has some other reason why one cannot show up at an appropriate polling place. But in 1972, Idaho became the first state where one will not need a reason why one must be absent from a polling place. It is thus the first state to allow no-excuse voting by mail. Over the years, more and more states have gotten it, and it's now for 34 states.

In 1998, voting entirely by mail was established in Oregon -  Vote-by-mail in Oregon and Voting in Oregon - Ballotpedia - and the state closed all its polling places. Since then, it has spread to WA in 2011, CO in 2013, HI in 2019, NV and UT in 2020, VT for general elections in 2021, and CA most recently.

California makes universal mail-in voting permanent

Newsom signed 10 other voting-related bills on Monday, crafting them as part of an effort to expand voting rights and access. Voting rights have become a major political flashpoint nationally. Democrat-led states are pushing legislation aimed at expanding voting access while many Republican-led states are trying to tighten it amid baseless accusations of widespread voter fraud by former President Donald Trump and other GOP leaders.

“As states across our country continue to enact undemocratic voter suppression laws, California is increasing voter access, expanding voting options and bolstering elections integrity and transparency,” Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement.