2020 Vote by Mail Resources
With the primaries polls closed, it’s time to start preparing for the November general election. This election will be historic with close to 75% of registered voters being able to vote by mail this year, the highest it’s been in U.S. history. This large predicted turnout is due to many states making absentee ballots more accessible. But with mailing slowdowns due to dwindling USPS funding and higher than ever turnouts, there is a lot to be worried about as November 3rd comes closer.
We’ve searched from the redwood forests to the East coast waters for helpful resources to help you prepare for November. Read through the resources below to help keep you up to date with all the rules and tools for this election.
2020 Vote by Mail Rules by State1
| Vote by Mail Rules | States |
|---|---|
| All registered voters will automatically be mailed a ballot ahead of election | Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, California, Vermont, and Washington D.C. |
| Registered voters can request a ballot citing COVID-19 as a reason or without specifying a reason | Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Alaska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine |
| Registered voters will automatically be sent an absentee ballot application | New Mexico, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maryland, Delaware, and Connecticut |
| Registered voters need to request an absentee ballot application | Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine |
| Registered voters are required to specify a reason other than COVID-19 to vote by absentee ballot | New York, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas |
1As stated by The New York Times on Aug 11, 2020.
You can also find out your state's specific mail-in voting rules by going to your state's official website or contacting your local town clerk's office.
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External Resources
- Official Mail Guide's Vote by Mail Resource Center 2020
- U.S. Election Assistance Commission's Managing Election Technology Resources
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If you’re looking to get started with your vote by mail process, but don’t know where to start; Quadient can help with that as well. We know how important it is to get your program running smoothly, so we have built a breakdown to get you started.
The page has everything from...
- Technology suggestions to help cut ballot processing in half (like the DS-200i & the IS-5000)
- Ballot tracking solutions to make sure every vote is accounted for
- Tools to make sure every ballot finds their voter, even if the voter has moved!
This year’s mail-in ballot capacity doesn’t have to mean a mountain of stress for you and your team. If you are interested in meeting with one of our experts, contact us to help get your 2020 election vote-by-mail program started.
If you have any questions, be sure to write them below in the comments. Be sure to sign up and cast your vote for Quadient for all your mailing, shipping, and rate change news. And be sure to give us your seal of approval so we end up in your primary mailbox and never miss a post. Interesting in more reading? You can check out this article’s sources at the end of this post.
Article Sources
- Love, Juliette; Stevens, Matt; and Gamio, Lazaro. "A Record 76% of Americans Can Vote by Mail in 2020." The New York Times. Aug 11, 2020.Link to Article.
- "Pandemic Spurs Increased Demand for Mail-In Ballots." Domtar. Aug 12, 2020. Link to Article.
- "From Revolution to Evolution: Celebrating the USPS." Domtar. July 1, 2020. Link to Article.