Mail vote or absentee vote is very pertinent to the US election system. The concept of voting absentee in the US first came about during the US Civil War, as a way for soldiers to cast ballots back in their home states. The idea of allowing military voters to cast a ballot in absentia is still one of the driving factors for states allowing absentee ballots. All states by federal law are required to send absentee mailed ballots to military and oversea voters for federal elections.
34 states including Washington DC, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and New Mexico among others do not require an excuse to vote absentee or by mail. Excuses to vote absentee or by mailed ballot include that the person must be out of the country on election day, is ill or disabled, older than a certain age, a student living outside the country. It is enforced in states including Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Louisiana.
Towards the end of the 19th Century, a paper ballot became common and votes were cast in private at a neighbourhood polling station. Times are changing again, as the majority of states now permit voters to cast ballot before Election Day, either in person at designated early voting sites or via a ballot that has been mailed to the voter’s home.
In all states to a varying degree, voting now takes place not just on one day during a certain time period, but over a series of days and week before the election as well. All states allow voters who have a reason for not being able to vote on Election Day to request a ballot in advance, and many states allow voters to request a ballot in advance without requiring a reason.
States vary on what extent they offer these options, including some states that deliver ballots to all voters while maintaining some in person voting locations for those that prefer to vote in person or may need assistance.
A ballot that has been sent to a voter and is voted outside of a polling place or election officials’ office has traditionally been referred to as an “absentee ballot”, and the person who casts that ballot has been called an “absentee voter”. In many cases, states’ processing of absentee mailed ballots can begin before they are actually counted. Processing mean different things in different states, but typically the first step is comparing the affidavit signature on the outside of the return envelope against the voter’s signature on record to ensure a match.
In some states once the signature is verified the envelope can then be opened and the ballot prepared for tabulation, as 32 states permit election officials to begin processing absentee or mailed ballot envelopes prior to Election Day.
With regards to the 2020 US presidential election, such number of votes cast by absentee voters will play a huge part in deciding the next president for the next four years.
Four key battleground states in the current election; Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan and Georgia still have tens of thousands of absentee ballots uncounted at the moment. According to media report, Pennsylvania received roughly ten times mailed ballot this year than in past elections.
This work was supported by the US State Department in collaboration with the Foreign Press Centre. MJB/5/11/20
By Mohamed J. Bah