Resources

The survey included an expansive set of disability questions and validated voter turnout responses against state voter files. The analyses reveal a high disability incidence; large disability turnout gaps; and even greater gaps estimated with validated compared to reported turnout. Much smaller turnout gaps and better voting experiences are found in the states that conduct their elections with all-mail voting.

The resources below are designed to help election officials manage the process of registering voters and creating, updating, and maintaining voter records.

This research's findings suggest that signature validation, which serves as a primary safeguard for mail voting integrity, may be systematically influenced by underlying biases

Registered voters in some legislative districts in Los Angeles County were subjected to universal voting by mail in the March 2020 primary. This research indicate that voter turnout increased by 3 to 4 percentage points for voters who do not automatically receive a mail ballot, and the increase is generally larger for registered partisan voters than those without a party affiliation.

This report provides guidance to election officials to communicate about the work they are doing related to voter list maintenance.

In this paper, authors draw upon the 2016 and 2020 Cooperative Election Study to analyze the likelihood that Trump supporters: (1) voted by mail, (2) self-reported voting by mail, and (3) self-reported not voting by mail when they did (misreporting VBM). In 2020, Trump supporters were markedly less likely to cast a VBM ballot and were also significantly more likely to disclaim voting by mail when they actually did.

This analysis suggests that documentary proof of citizenship requirements would affect voters across the electorate. While Democrats and Republicans possess some form of documentary proof at similar rates, Republicans’ reliance on birth certificates mean they may be more heavily impacted by documentary proof requirements than Democrats. Additionally, wealthier and more highly educated voters are more likely to have documentary proof than others.

This research analyzes the demographics of voters whose mail ballots are rejected in Washington and Colorado. It finds that younger voters and voters of color are more likely to have their ballots rejected due to a non-matching signature; however, almost half of these rejections are ultimately incorrect and are cured by the voter. Additional findings show that the experience of having a ballot rejected in one election, even if the issue is resolved through ballot curing, reduces the voter’s likelihood of participating in subsequent elections.

This brief provides an overview of state policies related to absentee and mail voting. It discusses the potential advantages and disadvantages of voting by mail, outlines state policies for qualifying for and requesting an absentee ballot, and details how states process, verify, and count absentee/mail ballots. The brief concludes with key policy points related to by mail voting for policymakers to consider.

This research finds that when people vote by mail, they are more likely to successfully identify the candidates that are best aligned with their preferences.

In this paper, Carter takes an in-depth look at absentee/mail-in voting pre and post COVID-19 pandemic. The paper recommends that more states should expand their access to voting by passing no-excuse absentee/mail-in voting laws due to the positive impacts of expanded mail voting policies on voters during the pandemic.

The results indicate that state mail voting laws (universal mail voting or no-excuse absentee mail voting) and more widespread use of mail voting ballots can boost turnout in primary elections, particularly when combined with open or nonpartisan primary rules.