Resources

In the 2020 North Carolina general election, about 82 percent of the roughly 26,000 voters who submitted mail ballots eligible for a cure process ultimately cast a counted ballot. About 39 percent of these counted ballots were cured in-person, and greater access to in-person curing options increased the likelihood that a ballot was cured. Democratic and non-major party registrants cured their ballots more often than Republican registrants, particularly when they lived in a county in which the Democratic Party was running a coordinated campaign focused on curing. While election officials sometimes attempted to inform voters by phone about the need to cure, there was no clear relationship between having a phone number recorded in a registration record and the likelihood that a ballot was cured.

In this video Paul Gronke, Director of the Elections and Voting Information Center, outlines the results of the 2023 white paper "An Overview: Vote By Mail in the United States." This paper documents the emergence and growth of mail balloting and details the unique administrative arrangements associated with this method of voting, related research and best practices, and areas where there is still more to learn.

The 2023 Local Election Official Survey provides insight into the challenges and successes facing election administrators, including the impacts of misinformation on job satisfaction, high turnover and rising workloads. It also analyzes demographic characteristics of election officials and the voter education methods they use.

The 2022 Local Election Official Survey explored the views and opinions of 596 local election officials, finding that most election officials need more support in their roles overall. Election officials noted the mounting stress of political attacks on the election system and threats against election officials. Concerns regarding the impacts of misinformation related to elections were also widespread.

Authors use official statewide voter file and mail-in ballot data from the 2018 midterm election in Georgia to test whether certain voters are more likely to cast a mail ballot that does not count. In their analysis, authors distinguish between ballots rejected for lateness and those rejected for a mistake on the return envelope, finding that newly registered, young, and minority voters have higher rejection rates compared with their counterparts.

These results suggest that making it easier to vote by mail—especially mailing every voter a ballot—generally does increase turnout, both before and during the 2020 election. By contrast, the same policies do not have robust partisan effects, and in many models, they tilt the results in a more Republican direction.

This report, issued by the Office of the State Auditor, summarizes a statistical analysis of ballots submitted in the Washington 2020 general elections, with an emphasis on understanding common reasons and predictors of ballot rejection. Its findings point to the county where a ballot was cast as being the most significant variable related to ballot rejection. The report concludes with recommendations for the state aimed at reducing ballot rejections.

The research finds that counties that moved to send registered voters mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day experienced 2.6 percent higher turnout compared to counties that made no change, although lesser reforms may have hindered turnout. Additionally no evidence is found that making voting by mail easier conferred a partisan advantage.

This brief studies trends in mail ballot rejection rates in 2020 compared to previous years and how different factors, including sets of policies and policy changes, the political environment, and voter outreach, may have contributed to these changes in an extraordinary election year. Authors note potential areas of further study to better understand how voters casting their ballots by mail can ensure their votes are counted.

This brief provides recommendations for the U.S. Department of Justice Election Threats Task Force aimed at strengthening protections for election workers against threats of violence. Recommendations include issuing additional guidance for law enforcement, noting the limitations of federal laws protecting election officials and addressing them as well as identifying alternatives to criminal prosecution to help deter threats and esnure the safety of election workers.

Using surveys of registered voters conducted in April and May 2020 designed to assess the support for various electoral reforms, the research shows that the overall support for expanding VBM in April 2020 falls sharply after just six weeks because Republicans became less worried about catching COVID-19, and unconcerned Republicans became far more opposed to VBM. These differences not only persisted, but actually increased even further between May and Election Day according to a survey done using a different methodology in November 2020.