5 Reasons Why You Should Vote by Mail (Hint: It’s Safe!)

Here are the reasons why you should vote by mail this upcoming election:

1. Ease

Little to no effort is required. Some states will automatically send every registered voter an absentee or mail-in ballot. All you have to do is fill it out and return it. If your state requires you to request one, it’s still quite an easy task. Please visit your state’s election website for more information on requesting a ballot.

Get comfy. You can sip tea and lounge on the living room floor. You can pull up voter guides on your laptop for quick, easy reference. Plus, no one’s going to judge if you’re in your pajamas!

2. Convenience 

Avoid waiting in line. Due to COVID-19, social distancing measures are likely to increase wait times. Long lines at polling places were already an issue due to various reasons, so these extra health precautions will likely lengthen your visit.

Fill in the ballot at your own pace. There’s no pressure to hurry up and fill out your ballot because of the snaking line behind you. Feeling stumped on a ballot measure? You can take a break and come back later with a fresher perspective.

Choose your drop-off site. Depending on your location, you have a few different options to return your ballot: the country registrar’s office, collection/drop-off boxes, and polling places. These sites may be located near your workplace, the market, or the kids’ school, making it convenient to add voting to your normal schedule.

Not able to drop off your own ballot? Depending on your state, it may be legal to entrust someone else (family member, friend, caregiver, associate, election officials, etc) to return your ballot. Do check your state’s laws because there may be restrictions on who can help submit the ballot on your behalf. You can also mail your ballot via USPS from the convenience at your home, but given potential USPS delays, we recommend you send back your ballot as soon as possible and track your ballot via your state’s ballot tracking to ensure it is received.

3. Safety

Avoid the crowds; avoid risk of infection. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, polling places will implement social distancing measures, but you are still at the mercy of those around you to abide by the same rules. Marking ballots in the safety of your home means fulfilling your civic duty while minimizing the risk of being in close contact with people at polling sites.

4. Security

Delivery and return. Only registered and eligible voters can receive a ballot in the mail. Duplicating specific material, designs, and barcodes also makes it tremendously difficult to produce fake ballots. When it comes time to send your ballot back to be counted, layers of safeguards are implemented whether the ballot is being returned by mail or dropped off. The U.S. Postal Service inspects ballots for any abnormalities, notifying election offices and potentially discharging their own investigative force, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Drop boxes are tamper-proof and can be accessed only by election officials, plus may even be monitored by cameras. 

Double voting. It’s a crime, but moreover, there are ways to prevent voting twice. If you make a mistake on your mail-in ballot, many states have a procedure that allows you to “cure” your ballot. This could entail requesting a replacement ballot, bringing it into a polling place and swapping it for a provisional ballot, or another fix. Different places have different protocols, so we recommend contacting your local elections office first. Regardless of the solution, you’ll be reassured to know that double voting is very, very unlikely to happen. 

What about the ballot itself? Ballots themselves are designed to prevent fraud. They must be returned inside the official envelope that they came with. Some states also print unique barcodes for you to track its status. Mail-in ballots are usually verified by signature matching with some states requiring further verification using a photo ID or witness at the time of signing. Be sure to follow instructions carefully to prevent voiding your ballot! 

Check out our blog post on how to ensure your vote counts.

5. Timeliness

No waiting until Election Day. If your state does not automatically send you a ballot, then the sooner you request one, the sooner you can complete and return it. Check to see if your locality has drop boxes operating before Election Day. Whatever the return method, do it as soon as possible to ensure your vote gets counted.

Note about USPS. The Postal Service recommends that voters request their ballots at least 15 days before Election Day (that’s Oct 19) to receive it in time. At least 15 states have also received a letter from the USPS saying that they could not guarantee all mail-in ballots would arrive on time to be counted. If mail-in voting via the USPS is your only option, we highly encourage you to request and mail back your ballot as soon as possible.

Although mail-in voting has been proven to work, with extensive track records of safety and security, we recognize that due to the ongoing pandemic, many places may struggle to conduct voting by mail efficiently. For some states, it has been an infrastructural challenge shifting away from in-person operations overnight. Some states continue to uphold restrictions on or limit mail-in voting. Changes to the US Postal Service also jeopardize the timeliness of voting by mail. For these reasons and more, voting in person may be the only option for some individuals. If given a choice, however, we recommend voting by mail, because it is not only safe, but also a valid, accessible way to exercise your right to vote.