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Postal voting in the United States

October 28, 2023

Postal voting in the United States, also referred to as mail-in voting or vote by mail,[4] is a form of absentee ballot in the United States, in which a ballot is mailed to the home of a registered voter, who fills it out and returns it by postal mail or drops it off in-person at a secure drop box or voting center. Postal voting reduces staff requirements at polling centers during an election. All-mail elections can save money,[5] while a mix of voting options can cost more.[6] In some states, ballots may be sent by the Postal Service without prepayment of postage.[7]

No-excuse postal voting.[1][2][3]
  All-mail voting
  No-excuse absentee voting
  Excuse-needed absentee voting
Early voting in U.S. states, 2020

Research shows that the availability of postal voting increases voter turnout.[8][9][10] It has been argued that postal voting has a greater risk of fraud than in-person voting, though known instances of such fraud are very rare,[11] with one database finding absentee-ballot fraud to be the most prevalent type of election fraud, comprising about 24% of 491 reported prosecutions between 2000 and 2012.[12] Processing large numbers of ballots and signature verifications accurately has numerous challenges other than fraud.[13][14][15][16]

As of 2022, eight states – California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington – allow all elections to be conducted by mail. Five of these states – Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington – hold elections "almost entirely by mail."[17] Postal voting is an option in 33 states and the District of Columbia. Other states allow postal voting only in certain circumstances, though the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has prompted further discussion about relaxing some of those restrictions. In the run up to the 2020 United States presidential election, after repeatedly asserting that mail-in voting would result in widespread fraud, President Donald Trump indicated he would block necessary funding for the postal service to ensure that postal votes would be processed securely[18] and on time.[19] In September 2020, CNN obtained a Homeland Security Department intelligence bulletin asserting "Russia is likely to continue amplifying criticisms of vote-by-mail and shifting voting processes amidst the COVID-19 pandemic to undermine public trust in the electoral process."[20] Motivated by false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, Republican lawmakers initiated a push to roll back access to postal voting.[21]

History edit

Absentee voting in the United States first emerged in colonial America, when soldiers serving in the Continental Army and individuals who lived in homes that were "vulnerable to Indian attack" could utilize absentee voting.[22][23] Absentee ballots were first used on a large scale for the military during the American Civil War.[24][25] Early absentee voting laws restricted the practice to members of the armed services.[26] The first allowance for civilian absentee voting was in Vermont in 1896.[26] By 1938, 42 states allowed absentee voting for civilians.[26] Nearly 2% of voters in the 1936 election voted through absentee ballots.[26] The share of absentee voters has increased over time.[26] Historically, one particularly prominent group who voted through absentee ballots were federal employees in Washington, D.C.[26]

Process edit

 
A vote-by-mail ballot being placed in a ballot drop box
 
Election observers

After the introduction of absentee voting, postal votes were for people who could not go to the polling place on election day. Now some states let them be used for convenience, but state laws still call them absentee ballots.[27] Some states let voters with permanent disabilities apply for permanent absentee voter status, and some other states let all citizens apply for permanent status, so they will automatically receive an absentee ballot for each election.[28] Otherwise a voter must apply for an absentee ballot before each election.

Ballots or applications for postal ballots are sent out before the election date, by a margin that depends on state law. In some states, a voter's pamphlet is also distributed. The election office prints a unique barcode on the return envelope provided for each ballot, so processing of each envelope can be tracked, sometimes publicly,[29] and corresponding signature files can be loaded quickly to check the voter's signature on the envelope when it returns.[30][31][32][33] Voters who lose the return envelope can still vote by obtaining another envelope from election officials,[34] or in some jurisdictions by using a plain envelope.[35]

To vote by mail, an individual marks the ballot for their choice of the candidates (or writes in their name), places it in the provided mailing envelope, seals it and signs and dates the back of the mailing envelope. Some jurisdictions use one envelope or privacy sleeve inside an outer envelope, for privacy. The envelope containing the ballot is then either mailed, or dropped off at a local ballot collection center.[citation needed]

The deadline is determined by state law.[36] In some jurisdictions, postmarks are not counted, and ballots must be received by a certain time on election day. In other jurisdictions, a ballot must have a postmark on or before the day of the election and be received prior to the date of certification. Many vote-by-mail jurisdictions enlist the help of volunteers to take ballots in walk-up drop off booths or drive-up quick drop locations.[citation needed] The Help America Vote Act requires some polling options, often at central election headquarters, with voting machines designed for disabled people.

It is sometimes inaccurately claimed that absentee ballots are not counted unless the race is close; in fact, in most jurisdictions, all valid absentee ballots are counted even if they will not affect the outcome of an election.[37][38][39] Counting of absentee ballots is usually done centrally. States vary in the rules about who may observe the counting. In New Hampshire, absentee ballots are sorted and transported to polling places for counting.

In the 2016 US Presidential election, approximately 33 million ballots were cast by postal vote, about a quarter of all ballots cast.[40] Some jurisdictions used only vote-by-mail and others absentee votes.

In April 2020, during lockdowns for the coronavirus pandemic, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 58% of American voters would favor nationwide election reform to allow everyone to vote by mail, and another 9% (total 67%) favor allowing it this year because of COVID-19.[41] Pew Research found at the same time that 49% of Republicans supported this measure and 87% of Democrats did.[42]

Voting from abroad (UOCAVA) edit

Main article: Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act

In 2018, 350,000 ballots came through procedures of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), from military and merchant marine voters stationed inside or outside the United States, and other citizens living outside the United States.[43] In 1986 Congress enacted UOCAVA, which requires that the states and territories allow United States citizens residing outside the United States, as well as members of the United States Uniformed Services and merchant marine, and their family members, inside or outside the United States, to register at their last residence in the US, and vote absentee in elections for federal offices.[44] Most states and territories also let these citizens vote in state and local elections,[45] and most states let citizens who have never lived in the US vote at their parents' last address.[46]

Though many states had pre-existing statutes in place, UOCAVA made it mandatory and nationally uniform. Voters eligible for UOCAVA who do not receive an absentee ballot from their state in time to vote, may use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot. The voter's signature goes on an information sheet enclosed with this ballot, not on the envelope.[47] It requires following state requirements for witnesses, but not for notaries. Almost half the states require ballots to be returned by mail. Other states allow mail along with some combination of fax, or email; four states allow a web portal.[48] West Virginia experimented with use of smart phones, but this is no longer available.[49]

In states edit

The National Conference of State Legislatures has many tables showing rules about postal voting in every state.[27]

Texas (voting from orbit) edit

In 1996, astronaut John Blaha was not able to vote in the November 1996 election, because his mission on Mir began before ballots were finalized, and lasted beyond Election Day.[50] As a result, in 1997, Texas amended its election statutes to permit voting from outer space.[50][51][52] The process extends traditional postal voting: the ballot is postal-mailed to a designated mailbox maintained by NASA, which sends it by encrypted electronic mail to the astronaut. After the astronaut completes the ballot, it is sent to the applicable Texas county clerk, who transcribes it to a paper ballot.[53] The clerk is the only individual other than the voter who knows the contents of the submitted ballot.[53] The first person to vote from space was astronaut David Wolf, who in 1997 voted in a local Texas election under the new law.[53]

All vote-by-mail edit

As of 2022, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington allow all elections to be conducted by mail. In many other states there are counties or certain small elections where everyone votes by mail.[27][54] California mailed every voter a ballot before the November 2020 election; California voters still kept the option to vote in-person.[55][56]

California edit

In 2016, California passed SB 450, which authorizes a roll-out of vote by mail across the state, at county discretion.[57] The state publishes postal voting rates, rising from 3% in 1962 to 72% in 2020.[58] For the 2018 elections, 14 counties were authorized to vote by mail and five ultimately did so: Madera, Napa, Nevada, Sacramento, and San Mateo. In each of those five counties, voter turnout was higher than the average turnout for the state.[59] For 2020, all counties will be authorized to do so, and as of April 8, 2020 the following ten additional counties have opted in: Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Orange, Santa Clara, and Tuolumne.[60]

As of 2022, California mails every registered voter a ballot before the elections, but there is still the option to vote in-person.[61]

Colorado edit

In 2013, Colorado began holding all elections by mail.[62] A Pantheon Analytics study of the 2014 election showed a significant uptick in voter participation from what would have normally been "low propensity" voters.[63] A PEW Charitable Trust study of the same election showed significant cost savings.[5]

Hawaii edit

Hawaii instituted All-Vote-by-Mail for all elections beginning with its primary in May 2020.[64]

 
Total votes and mailed votes, by state US 2016

Kansas edit

Kansas conducted its Democratic primary in May 2020 entirely by mail.[65]

Nevada edit

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak (D) signed legislation authorizing mail-in-voting for every registered voter in the state on August 3, 2020.[66] (Donald Trump threatened to sue,[67] although Trump endorsed mail-in-voting in Republican-controlled Florida.[68][69]) That law was only temporary, applying only to the 2020 election. On June 2, 2021, Governor Sisolak signed a law making all vote-by-mail permanent, although voters can opt out of getting ballots by mail.[70]

New Jersey edit

New Jersey conducted a primarily vote by mail election for the primary in July 2020 albeit with a limited number of polling stations open for those who would vote provisionally as well as voters with disabilities.[71]

Oregon edit

See also: Vote-by-mail in Oregon
 
An Oregon mail-in ballot for a special election in May 2005

In 1998, voters in Oregon passed an initiative requiring that all elections be conducted by mail. Voters may also drop their ballots off at a county designated official drop site. Oregon has since reduced the cost of elections, and the time available to tally votes has increased. Initially, Oregon required receipt of votes by 8:00 pm local time on election day. But starting with the general election in 2020, ballots needed to be postmarked by Election Day. Also starting then, pre-paid postage envelopes were included with the ballots. Voter turnout in Oregon is among the highest in the United States.[72]

Utah edit

In 2014, Utah started allowing each county to make their own decision regarding whether to go to all mailed-out ballots. In the 2016 general election, 21 of 29 counties did so. That rose to 27 of 29 counties in 2018, covering over 98% of their electorate, with all counties doing so in 2020.[73][27] A Pantheon Analytics study of Utah's 2016 general election showed a 5–7% point higher turnout in the counties using vote by mail than those with traditional polling places, with even higher differences (~10% points) among younger voters.

Vermont edit

On May 18, 2021, the Vermont legislature passed a bill requiring general elections to be all vote-by-mail.[74] Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed that bill on June 7, 2021, and asked the legislature to expand all vote-by-mail to primary elections too.[75]

Washington edit

In 2011, the Washington legislature passed a law requiring all counties to conduct vote-by-mail elections.[76] Local governments in Washington had the option to do so since 1987, and statewide elections had permitted it since 1993.[77] By 2009, 38 of the state's 39 counties (all except Pierce County) had conducted all elections by mail.[78] Pierce County joined the rest of the state in all-mail balloting by 2014.[79] In Washington, ballots must be postmarked by election day, which helps to ensure all voters' votes are counted; ballot counting takes several days after election day to receive and process ballots.[78] Beginning in 2018 postage is prepaid so voters do not have to use a stamp.[80]

Local jurisdictions edit

Various local jurisdictions now have all vote-by-mail, or run pilot programs. 31 of 53 counties in North Dakota now vote by mail,[81] as do over 1000 precincts in Minnesota (those with fewer than 400 registered voters). In 2018, pilot programs in Anchorage, Alaska exceeded previous turnout records[82] and Garden County, Nebraska saw higher turnout versus the state average.[83] Rockville, Maryland piloted vote-by-mail in 2019.[84] In 2018, Connecticut's Governor issued Executive Order 64, directing a study of a possible move to vote by mail.[85]

No-excuse Vote-by-Mail edit

Florida allows postal voting for any reason.[86]

In 2018, Michigan passed Proposal 3, a state constitutional amendment legalizing "no-excuse" voting by mail (meaning that the voter does not need to provide a reason for requesting a mail-in ballot) and other election reforms. In 2020 three more states joined the majority of states which already allowed "no excuse" voting by mail: Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia.[27] Other states have relaxed restrictions on mail in ballots for a total of 46 states to allow voting by mail due to COVID-19.[87]

On May 31, 2021, the Illinois legislature passed a bill that expanded curbside voting and establishes a permanent vote-by-mail system, and it creates a permanent voter list. It was signed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on June 18, 2021.[88] In June 2023, the Connecticut legislature sent a ballot measure to the voters which, if passed in 2024, would amend the state constitution to allow no-excuse postal voting.

Table. No-excuse postal voting edit

  • Links below are "Elections in LOCATION" links.
No-excuse postal voting by state and federal district.[1][3][2]
State or federal district No-excuse postal voting implemented statewide All-mail elections Permanent voter list for all voters Notes
 
  Alaska
  Arizona 1991 Yes
  California 1978 Yes (since 2022)[89] N/A given full all mail elections
  Colorado Yes (since 2013) N/A given full all mail elections
  Florida 2001
  Georgia 2006
  Hawaii 1993 Yes (since 2019) N/A given full all mail elections
  Idaho 1972
  Illinois 2006 Yes
  Iowa 1990
  Kansas
  Maine 2000
  Maryland Yes
  Massachusetts 2022
  Michigan 2018 Yes
  Minnesota 2014 No, only for disabled voters
  Montana Yes
  Nebraska 1997
  Nevada Yes (since 2020) N/A given full all mail elections
  New Jersey 2006 Yes
  New Mexico 1993
  New York 2024[3]
  North Carolina 2002
  North Dakota
  Ohio 2005
  Oklahoma
  Oregon 1998 Yes (since 1998) N/A given full all mail elections
  Pennsylvania 2020
  Rhode Island 2020
  South Dakota 2003
  Utah 2013 Yes (since 2020) N/A given full all mail elections
  Vermont 1991 general elections only (since 2021)
  Virginia 2020 Yes
  Washington 1974 Yes (since 2011) N/A given full all mail elections
  Washington, D.C. 2023 Yes (since 2023)[90][2] N/A given full all mail elections
  Wisconsin 2001
  Wyoming 1991

Turnout edit

Further information: Voter turnout § United States

Insofar as postal voting makes the act of voting easier, it may facilitate a campaign's get out the vote efforts. Campaigns can also target potential voters more efficiently by skipping those whose ballots have already been processed by the elections office. Conversely, face-to-face canvassing has been found to be less effective with postal voting.[91]

In 2016, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report outlining turnout improvements seen in vote by mail elections.[92]

Researchers in 2020 have found that in elections with all-mail voting, overall turnout increases. This increase is particularly pronounced among groups that typically have low turnout rates, such as young people and people of color. For instance, in Colorado they found overall turnout rose 9 percentage points, while it rose 16 percentage points among young people, 13 among African-Americans, 11 among Asian-Americans, 10 among Latinos, blue-collar workers, those without a high school diploma, and those with less than $10,000 of wealth.[8]

Reliability of postal ballots edit

Rejection statistics edit

 
Checking absentee ballots

In 2016, a presidential election year, a total of 318,728 ballots (1% of those submitted) were rejected. For the states that reported a reason, some of the reasons were:[15]

  • 27.5% Non-matching signature
  • 23.1% Ballot missed deadline
  • 20.0% No signature
  • 3.0% No witness signature
  • 1.5% Voter deceased
  • 1.3% Voted in person
  • 1.1% First-time voter without proper identification

By August 2020, after the next presidential primary season but before the general election, more than 550,000 had already been rejected.[93]

Past problems edit

Postal ballots have been the source of "most significant vote-counting disputes in recent decades" according to Edward Foley, director of the Election Law program at Ohio State University.[94] Among the thousands of elections from 2000 to 2012, there were 491 known cases of absentee ballot fraud,[95][96][11] and the Heritage Foundation lists additional cases since 2012.[97]

Richard Hasen, a professor at UC Irvine School of Law said "problems are extremely rare in the five states that rely primarily on vote-by-mail."[98] Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University does not have statistics on postal ballot fraud, but said "I do collect anecdotal reports ... misconduct in the mail voting process is meaningfully more prevalent than misconduct in the process of voting in person ... Misconduct still amounts to only a tiny fraction of the ballots cast by mail."[98]Lonna Atkeson, an expert in election administration, said about mail-in voting fraud, "It's really hard to find ... The fact is, we really don't know how much fraud there is ... There aren't millions of fraudulent votes, but there are some."[98]

In 2018, a report from the US Senate Intelligence Committee of Russian meddling in the 2016 election pointed out that auditable paper ballots, by definition part of all vote by mail elections, were potentially safer than paperless voting systems,[99] which are still used in a few states. However, only about half the states actually use paper ballots to conduct election audits.

Specific types of problems include:

  • Voter's request for postal ballot is lost or not received or processed in time, in states that require one, thus the voter must vote in person or not vote (for example over 9,000 properly requested ballots were not sent in Wisconsin in 2020)[16]
  • Voter's request for postal ballot is altered or forged[100][101][102]
  • In states that mail ballots to registered voters without request, some voters have died or moved, and any ballots not returned by the post office can get into the wrong hands[103]
  • Election office sends voters the wrong instructions[104] or a ballot with someone else's name on it,[105] or wrong ballot, when offices on the ballot differ by party or district.[106]
  • Voter does not receive mailed ballot, because it does not arrive at the address in time, or someone else takes it[16][107]
  • Voter misplaces ballot, so must vote with provisional ballot, and someone else may find and vote the original postal ballot, leading to rejection of the provisional ballot.[108][107]
  • Voter is pressured to vote a certain way by family, caregiver, or other, or provide the blank ballot to someone[109][110]
  • Voters may be paid to vote a certain way[111]
  • Someone collects many ballots[112] and does not deliver the ones from neighborhoods likely to vote against the collector's candidates[113]
  • Someone collects many ballots, opens envelopes, and marks votes; if voter has already voted, fraudster can mark extra votes on same contests, to invalidate ballot[114]
  • Mail can be stolen from postal service[115][116]
  • Staff can leave key in drop box.[117]
  • Envelope printer prints erroneous tracking code on return envelope, so it may be processed inaccurately or rejected.[118][119]
  • Voter's signature on envelope is missing (55,000 in 2018) or does not match signature on file (67,000), so either there is widespread fraud being prevented by signature reviews, or if these submissions were not fraudulent, then valid ballots are being rejected[43][13]
  • Forged signature on envelope is accepted as close enough to signature on file, so invalid ballots are accepted[13]
  • Signature rejection rates vary by race, county and state, ranging from none to 20% rejected[15][14]
  • Election office receives the ballot late (114,000 ballots in 2018);[43][120][121] in a Philadelphia experiment, most ballots were misplaced by the postal service, and even after they were found, 21% took more than 4 days to arrive and 3% took more than a week[122]
  • Staff who open envelopes falsify or ignore ballots[123][124]
  • Compilation of votes omits postal ballots[125]

These problems with postal ballots can be categorized as (A) procedural issues, which may not have solutions; (B) collection of ballots by dishonest collectors, which is partly controlled in many states by limits on the number of ballots that one person can deliver, though collectors can still mail in the ballots they collect,[126][113] and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals disallowed Arizona's limits based on discriminatory intent;[127] (C) signature verification, which has inherent errors and may have bias,[14][13] and (D) insider issues, which are partly addressed by enough staffing, quality control, and openness to observation by the public or candidates.

Some problems have inherently limited scope, such as family pressure and bribes, while others can affect several percent of the vote, such as signature verification.[citation needed]

Security printing edit

Further information: Security printing

Some states say they print postal ballots on special paper to prevent forgeries.[128][129] California assigns a tinted watermark to the ballots for each election,[130] which is created by printing an image with a screen rather than density variations.[131] Special papers, microprinting, magnetic ink and other measures are common to protect currency, bank checks and stamps. Election officials do not say that envelopes have these features, nor that they review ballots based on these methods,[43][15] though the Labor Department reviews paper when considering if union election ballots are forged.[132]

The largest US vendor of election scanners required use of its own paper as of 2015,[133] and "highly recommended" it as of 2019.[134] The paper has specified weight, thickness, reflectivity for compatibility with scanners, but the scanner does not measure these to detect forgeries. The company says colored paper may not be used. Colors may be printed in areas away from the voting marks, but they are scanned as either black or white, no gray.[134]

States print bar codes on return envelopes to identify the voter (coding a serial number for each envelope mailed),[135] so a forger would need to access the coding system in order to forge bar codes.[129] California lets voters write votes "in a letter or note" on any paper, and enclose as many such notes in a vote by mail envelope as will fit, with a signature for each on the outside. Only one bar code on the envelope is needed.[136]

Ballot printing is centralized. For example, California has nine authorized ballot printers.[137] Maryland uses one ballot printer state-wide.[138] One company, Runbeck, printed 36 million ballots for 214 counties in 11 states for the November 2020 election, of which about half were postal ballots.[139] Runbeck did not use watermarks or tracking marks in the paper, at least in Maricopa County which has over 60% of Arizona's voters.[140] Another company serves many counties in Ohio and Pennsylvania.[141]

Signature verification process edit

Further information: Signature § Detection of forged signatures
Sorting vote by mail envelopes, San Jose, Santa Clara County, California, 2018

Most States check signatures to attempt to prevent forged paper ballots. Signature mismatches were the most common reason for rejecting postal ballots in 2016[15] and the second most common, after late arrival, in 2018.[43] While many states accept in-person votes without needing identification, most require some verification on postal ballots. Eighteen states simply require a signature on the ballot envelope, without verifying the signature,[142] The other 32 states verify if the signature matches one on file, and some of these states require witnesses or notaries.[143][144]

The first step after receiving mailed ballots is to compare the voter's signature on the outside of the envelope with one or more signatures on file in the election office. Smaller jurisdictions have temporary staff compare signatures. Larger jurisdictions use computers to scan envelopes, quickly decide if the signature matches well enough, and set aside non-matches in a separate bin. Temporary staff then double-check the rejections, and in some places check the accepted envelopes too.[13]

Error rates of computerized signature reviews are not published. The best academic researchers have 10-14% error rates.[145] Algorithms:

look for a certain number of points of similarity between the compared signatures ... a wide range of algorithms and standards, each particular to that machine's manufacturer, are used to verify signatures. In addition, counties have discretion in managing the settings and implementing manufacturers' guidelines ... there are no statewide standards for automatic signature verification ... most counties do not have a publicly available, written explanation of the signature verification criteria and processes they use.[13]

Handwriting experts say "it is extremely difficult for anyone to be able to figure out if a signature or other very limited writing sample has been forged,"[146] In manual signature reviews, "election officials with little or no training in verifying a person's signature are tasked with doing just that ... it's unlikely that only one or two samples will show the spectrum of a person's normal variations ..."[146] Colorado's guide for manual verification is recommended by the federal government.[147] Colorado accepts any signature that matches with respect to cursive v. printed, flowing v. slow and deliberate, overall spacing, size, proportions, slanted v. straight, spelling and punctuation. When signatures do not match on these items, staff still accept them if staff can think of a reasonable explanation for differences.[148] In a California study, most counties, when they manually reviewed ballot signatures, had "a basic presumption in favor of counting each ballot."[13] California extended this standard in 2020 regulations, "begin with the basic presumption that the signature on the petition or ballot envelope is the voter's signature ... only be rejected if two different elections officials unanimously find beyond a reasonable doubt that the signature differs in multiple, significant, and obvious respects from all signatures in the voter's registration record."[149] Texas officials must use their "best judgment" without training.[150] Published examples show very different signatures coming from the same person.[150]

In 16 states, when election offices reject signatures, they notify the voters so they can mail another signature, which may be just as hard to check, or they can come to the office and vouch for the envelope, usually in less than a week; the other 36 states have no process to cure discrepancies.[151] Notification by US mail results in more cures than email or telephone notice.[13] In the Florida 2020 general election, 73% of the 47,000 initially rejected ballots were cured,[152] and in the 2022 Vermont primary, 61% of 809 were cured.[153]

Rejected envelopes, with ballots still unseen in them, are stored in case of future challenges. Accepted envelopes are opened and separated from the envelopes in a way that no one sees the external name and the ballot choices. The Election Assistance Commission says machines can help, but this step requires the most space of any step, especially when workers have to be 6 feet apart.[154]

Unequal signature rejection rates edit

 
Postal ballots, rejection rates by state, US, November 2016, except Georgia 2018

The highest error rates in signature verification are found with lay people, higher than for computers, which in turn make more errors than experts.[155] Researchers have published error rates for computerized signature verification. They compare different systems on a common database of true and false signatures. The best system falsely rejects 10% of true signatures, while it accepts 10% of forgeries. Another system has error rates on both of 14%, and the third-best has error rates of 17%.[145][156] It is possible to be less stringent and reject fewer true signatures, at the cost of also rejecting fewer forgeries, which means erroneously accepting more forgeries.[157] Vendors of automated signature verification claim accuracy, and do not publish their error rates.[158][159][160][161]

Voters with short names are at a disadvantage, since even experts make more mistakes on signatures with fewer "turning points and intersections."[162]

The National Vote at Home Institute reports that 17 states do not mandate a signature verification process.[163]

In the November 2016 general election, rejections ranged from none in Alabama and Puerto Rico, to 6% of ballots returned in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky and New York.[15][164] In 2020 special elections in New Jersey, 10% of postal ballots were rejected, much higher than the 3% rejections in the 2018 general election in New Jersey. The rise was largely attributed to inexperience of many voters using postal ballots for the first time, though some elections have resulted in charges regarding voter fraud. One such race was the Paterson municipal election, where 19% of ballots cast were disqualified. Approximately 800 of the more than 3190 votes disqualified were related to the various voter fraud allegations.[165][166][167] Where reasons for rejection were known, in 2018, 114,000 ballots arrived late, 67,000 failed signature verification, 55,000 lacked voter signatures, and 11,000 lacked witness signatures in states that require them.[43]

Rejection rates are higher for ballots that claim to come from young or minority voters. In the 2020 primary[168] and 2016 general[14] elections, Florida officials rejected 4% of postal ballots that claimed to come from voters aged 18–25. In the 2018 general election they rejected 5%.[169] In Florida over age 60 or 65, rejections were only one percent in 2020, two thirds of a percent in 2018 and half a percent in 2016. However over age 90, rejection rates were above average, though not as high as under age 25.[169] Rejections were 2% for ballots claiming to come from Florida non-white voters, and 1% from white voters in all three years.[168][169][14] In the 2018 Florida election, 4% of postal ballots from military voters stationed inside the United States were rejected.[169] Florida voters are not allowed to cure signature problems if these are discovered after election day.[151]

Florida rejection rates in 2016 varied by county, ranging from none to 4%, and up to 5% for ballots that claimed to come from blacks or Hispanics in some counties. Two counties with large universities rejected 9% of 18-21-year-olds: Alachua and Orange, while Pinellas, which also has large universities, rejected 0.2% of this age range.[14]

In Georgia's 2018 general election, most counties rejected higher fractions of ballots claiming to come from black or Hispanic voters than from white voters. The highest rejection rates for ballots that claimed to come from black voters were in Polk 17%, Taylor and Clay 16%, Putnam, and Warren 14%, Atkinson and Candler 13%, McIntosh 12%, and Glynn 10%. For Hispanics, Thomas and Putnam counties rejected 20%, Bulloch 14%, Barlow 12%, Glynn 11%, Decatur 10%. The highest rates for whites were Pickens 13%, Coffee and Polk 10%. Researchers also found higher rejection rates for women, which they hypothesized could relate to name changes not updated at the voter registration office,[170][171] though issues with hyphenated last names can also cause signature rejections.[172] Bias in computer verification depends on the set of signatures used for training the computer, and bias in manual review depends on whether the temporary staff recognize names as non-white.[citation needed]

Many voter registrations, especially for younger voters, come from driver's license applications, where the signature was done on an electronic signature pad. People move their hands differently when signing on paper and on electronic pads. Further the pads used have low resolution, so distinctive elements of paper signatures on the ballot envelopes, are blurred or omitted in the electronic signatures used for comparison.[13] Signatures also have more variation, and therefore are harder to verify, when they come from people who rarely use Roman characters, such as some Asian-Americans.[13] Election officials find that a decline in cursive writing leads to young voters more often printing their names in signature blocks; a California official said she "cannot compare a printed name to a signature."[13]

This is a difficult process for the actual workers that reject signatures. Attorney Raul Macias said "Staff are under-trained, they're under-resourced, and they'll be under tremendous pressure to get results quickly and they're moving through thousands or millions of signatures." While 22 states allow the "curing" of a ballot signature, 28 do not.[173]

Recommendations for signature verification edit

The Election Assistance Commission says computers should be set to accept only nearly perfect signature matches, and humans should doublecheck a sample, but they do not discuss acceptable error rates or sample sizes.[147]

The Election Assistance Commission says the first human check of a signature rejected by machines will average 30 seconds, and a sample of decisions to accept should be checked. They recommend all rejections should be checked by bipartisan teams (6 feet apart[154]) who will average 3 minutes for the final decision to reject, which means 6 minutes of staff time, plus supervision time. The commission also discusses the challenges of moving large numbers of envelopes without mixups from receipt, to machines, and various steps of verification, rejection, and voter notification to cure mismatches, as well as counting and logging the number of ballots at every step. They mention the extra security needed when voters send copies of identity documents to cure their signature rejection.[147]

The Election Assistance Commission notes that signatures over ten years old are another problem and recommends Hawaii's practice of inviting every voter to send a new signature.[147] California researchers recommended that the public needs easy access to see the signature on file before mailing in ballots, to further maximize matches.[13]

The National Vote at Home Institute recommends state-wide or regional centers for signature verification to increase transparency. and reduce the insider risks of temporary local staff,[174] though the Election Assistance Commission notes that shared equipment may not be consistent with local chain of custody requirements, and that public bidding may take months.[154]

Blue shift edit

Main article: Blue shift (politics)

Blue shift is an observed phenomenon under which in-person votes overstate the true final percent of votes for the Republican Party (whose color is red), while provisional (and mail-in) votes, which are counted later, overstate the true final percent of votes for the Democratic Party (whose color is blue).[175] This means election day results can initially show a large Republican lead, or "red mirage", but mail-in ballots later demonstrate a Democratic victory. This can also happen in the opposite direction, when there is a "blue mirage", or early lead by Democrats, followed by a red shift back to Republicans.[176] This can lead observers to call into question the election legitimacy, when in fact, the election results are legitimate.[177] Blue shift occurs because young voters, low-income voters, and voters who move often, are likely to vote by mail and are likely to lean Democratic.[178]

The phenomenon was first identified by Edward Foley of Ohio State University in 2013.[178] He found that Democratic candidates are significantly more likely to gain votes during the canvass period, which are the votes counted after election night.[179] This asymmetry did not always exist, as in the 20th century, as recently as the 1996 United States presidential election, Republicans and Democrats were both able to cut their opponents' lead during the canvass period. Foley conjectured that the 2002 passage of the Help America Vote Act accelerated the pronounced asymmetry of the blue shift phenomenon, because it required states to allow provisional ballots to be cast.[179] He later found that the variation in the size of the blue shift is positively associated with the number of provisional ballots and the Democratic partisanship of the state in question.[180] The growth in the persistent blue-shifted overtime vote began with the 2004 United States presidential election.[180]

Other challenges edit

In the case of all-postal voting, or a high proportion of postal votes, there cannot be traditional "Election Night" news coverage in which the results are delivered within hours after polls close, as it takes several days to deliver and count ballots. As a result, it may require several days beyond the mail-in deadline before results can be publicized.[181]

Postal voting depends on the viability of the postal service. As of early 2020, the U.S. Postal Service has "a negative net worth of $65 billion and an additional $140 billion in unfunded liabilities." This financial crisis has become more pressing amidst the coronavirus pandemic, as the $2 trillion economic stimulus package did not include money for the postal service.[182]

Alternatives edit

An increasing number of states in the US now allow drive-thru voting. In the process voters leave their absentee ballots in a drop box at designated locations. Some locations allow drop-off voting 24/7.[183]

Many states provide voters with multiple ways to return their ballot: by mail, via in person secure drop boxes, and at voting centers where they can get questions answered, replacement ballots, etc.[184] Oregon now has 300 drop boxes across the state in the weeks leading up to each election, and more voters now cast their ballot in person than by return mail.[185] The term "vote at home" is starting to replace "vote by mail" for that reason.[186] California's roll-out of vote-by-mail is incorporating voting centers as a key part of their effort.[185] Anchorage's successful pilot included many drop boxes and some voting centers.[185]

Expansion in 2020 election edit

Main article: Postal voting in the 2020 United States elections
See also: 2020 United States elections and 2020 United States Postal Service crisis

In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant increase in postal ballots was expected. The National Vote at Home Institute, which advocates postal ballots and is led by former Denver elections director Amber McReynolds, analyzed all states and found that 32 states "are missing major pieces of policy or best practices that ensure a secure mail ballot process"[187][163] including 15 states which lack steps to verify voters' addresses, 17 which do not mandate a signature verification process, and 30 do not have adequate options to cure defects in voter signatures.[163] In many systems voters have no way to remedy disqualifications due to signature mismatches.[151]

While members of Congress pushed to expand absentee voting and the CDC and other public health experts advised postal voting as a form of voting which minimizes in-person contact, President Donald Trump claimed that expansion of absentee voting would lead to "levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again."[188] In May 2020, Trump began to claim that postal voting was highly vulnerable to fraud.[189] Fact checkers said that there is no evidence of substantial fraud associated with mail voting.[98][190] In July 2020, Trump suggested postponing the 2020 presidential election based on his unsubstantiated claims about extensive postal voting fraud.[191][192][193][194] The new, Trump-appointed administration of the United States Postal Service made changes which resulted in slower delivery of mail. Donald Trump openly stated that he opposes funding USPS because of mail-in voting.[195] In September 2020, a federal judge issued an injunction against the recent USPS actions, ruling that Trump and DeJoy were "involved in a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service", adding that the 14 states requesting the injunction "demonstrated that this attack on the Postal Service is likely to irreparably harm the states' ability to administer the 2020 general election".[196]

The USPS warned that it could not guarantee that all ballots cast by mail in the 2020 election would arrive in time to be counted.[197] For this reason, election experts advocated that postal ballots be mailed weeks in advance of election day.[198] A March 2021 report from the Postal Service's inspector general found that the vast majority of mail-in ballots and registration materials in the 2020 election were delivered to the relevant authorities on time.[199][200] The Postal Service handled approximately 135 million pieces of election-related mail between September 1 and November 3, delivering 97.9% of ballots from voters to election officials within three days, and 99.89% of ballots within seven days.[199][201]

The USPS warned that it could not guarantee that all ballots cast by mail in the 2020 election would arrive in time to be counted.[202] For this reason, election experts advocated that postal ballots be mailed weeks in advance of election day.[198]

In several court cases, Republicans in national and state legislatures have pushed to restrict access or place more stringent limitations upon postal voting while Democrats have pushed to expand it or lift restrictions.[203][204][205]

See also edit

References edit

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Further reading edit

External links edit

October 28, 2023
postal, voting, united, states, also, referred, mail, voting, vote, mail, form, absentee, ballot, united, states, which, ballot, mailed, home, registered, voter, fills, returns, postal, mail, drops, person, secure, drop, voting, center, postal, voting, reduces. Postal voting in the United States also referred to as mail in voting or vote by mail 4 is a form of absentee ballot in the United States in which a ballot is mailed to the home of a registered voter who fills it out and returns it by postal mail or drops it off in person at a secure drop box or voting center Postal voting reduces staff requirements at polling centers during an election All mail elections can save money 5 while a mix of voting options can cost more 6 In some states ballots may be sent by the Postal Service without prepayment of postage 7 No excuse postal voting 1 2 3 All mail voting No excuse absentee voting Excuse needed absentee votingEarly voting in U S states 2020Research shows that the availability of postal voting increases voter turnout 8 9 10 It has been argued that postal voting has a greater risk of fraud than in person voting though known instances of such fraud are very rare 11 with one database finding absentee ballot fraud to be the most prevalent type of election fraud comprising about 24 of 491 reported prosecutions between 2000 and 2012 12 Processing large numbers of ballots and signature verifications accurately has numerous challenges other than fraud 13 14 15 16 As of 2022 eight states California Colorado Hawaii Nevada Oregon Utah Vermont and Washington allow all elections to be conducted by mail Five of these states Colorado Hawaii Oregon Utah and Washington hold elections almost entirely by mail 17 Postal voting is an option in 33 states and the District of Columbia Other states allow postal voting only in certain circumstances though the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020 has prompted further discussion about relaxing some of those restrictions In the run up to the 2020 United States presidential election after repeatedly asserting that mail in voting would result in widespread fraud President Donald Trump indicated he would block necessary funding for the postal service to ensure that postal votes would be processed securely 18 and on time 19 In September 2020 CNN obtained a Homeland Security Department intelligence bulletin asserting Russia is likely to continue amplifying criticisms of vote by mail and shifting voting processes amidst the COVID 19 pandemic to undermine public trust in the electoral process 20 Motivated by false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election Republican lawmakers initiated a push to roll back access to postal voting 21 Contents 1 History 2 Process 3 Voting from abroad UOCAVA 4 In states 4 1 Texas voting from orbit 4 2 All vote by mail 4 2 1 California 4 2 2 Colorado 4 2 3 Hawaii 4 2 4 Kansas 4 2 5 Nevada 4 2 6 New Jersey 4 2 7 Oregon 4 2 8 Utah 4 2 9 Vermont 4 2 10 Washington 4 2 11 Local jurisdictions 4 3 No excuse Vote by Mail 5 Table No excuse postal voting 6 Turnout 7 Reliability of postal ballots 7 1 Rejection statistics 7 2 Past problems 7 3 Security printing 7 4 Signature verification process 7 5 Unequal signature rejection rates 7 6 Recommendations for signature verification 7 7 Blue shift 8 Other challenges 9 Alternatives 10 Expansion in 2020 election 11 See also 12 References 13 Further reading 14 External linksHistory editAbsentee voting in the United States first emerged in colonial America when soldiers serving in the Continental Army and individuals who lived in homes that were vulnerable to Indian attack could utilize absentee voting 22 23 Absentee ballots were first used on a large scale for the military during the American Civil War 24 25 Early absentee voting laws restricted the practice to members of the armed services 26 The first allowance for civilian absentee voting was in Vermont in 1896 26 By 1938 42 states allowed absentee voting for civilians 26 Nearly 2 of voters in the 1936 election voted through absentee ballots 26 The share of absentee voters has increased over time 26 Historically one particularly prominent group who voted through absentee ballots were federal employees in Washington D C 26 Process edit nbsp A vote by mail ballot being placed in a ballot drop box nbsp Election observersAfter the introduction of absentee voting postal votes were for people who could not go to the polling place on election day Now some states let them be used for convenience but state laws still call them absentee ballots 27 Some states let voters with permanent disabilities apply for permanent absentee voter status and some other states let all citizens apply for permanent status so they will automatically receive an absentee ballot for each election 28 Otherwise a voter must apply for an absentee ballot before each election Ballots or applications for postal ballots are sent out before the election date by a margin that depends on state law In some states a voter s pamphlet is also distributed The election office prints a unique barcode on the return envelope provided for each ballot so processing of each envelope can be tracked sometimes publicly 29 and corresponding signature files can be loaded quickly to check the voter s signature on the envelope when it returns 30 31 32 33 Voters who lose the return envelope can still vote by obtaining another envelope from election officials 34 or in some jurisdictions by using a plain envelope 35 To vote by mail an individual marks the ballot for their choice of the candidates or writes in their name places it in the provided mailing envelope seals it and signs and dates the back of the mailing envelope Some jurisdictions use one envelope or privacy sleeve inside an outer envelope for privacy The envelope containing the ballot is then either mailed or dropped off at a local ballot collection center citation needed The deadline is determined by state law 36 In some jurisdictions postmarks are not counted and ballots must be received by a certain time on election day In other jurisdictions a ballot must have a postmark on or before the day of the election and be received prior to the date of certification Many vote by mail jurisdictions enlist the help of volunteers to take ballots in walk up drop off booths or drive up quick drop locations citation needed The Help America Vote Act requires some polling options often at central election headquarters with voting machines designed for disabled people It is sometimes inaccurately claimed that absentee ballots are not counted unless the race is close in fact in most jurisdictions all valid absentee ballots are counted even if they will not affect the outcome of an election 37 38 39 Counting of absentee ballots is usually done centrally States vary in the rules about who may observe the counting In New Hampshire absentee ballots are sorted and transported to polling places for counting In the 2016 US Presidential election approximately 33 million ballots were cast by postal vote about a quarter of all ballots cast 40 Some jurisdictions used only vote by mail and others absentee votes In April 2020 during lockdowns for the coronavirus pandemic an NBC News Wall Street Journal poll found that 58 of American voters would favor nationwide election reform to allow everyone to vote by mail and another 9 total 67 favor allowing it this year because of COVID 19 41 Pew Research found at the same time that 49 of Republicans supported this measure and 87 of Democrats did 42 Voting from abroad UOCAVA editMain article Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act In 2018 350 000 ballots came through procedures of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act UOCAVA from military and merchant marine voters stationed inside or outside the United States and other citizens living outside the United States 43 In 1986 Congress enacted UOCAVA which requires that the states and territories allow United States citizens residing outside the United States as well as members of the United States Uniformed Services and merchant marine and their family members inside or outside the United States to register at their last residence in the US and vote absentee in elections for federal offices 44 Most states and territories also let these citizens vote in state and local elections 45 and most states let citizens who have never lived in the US vote at their parents last address 46 Though many states had pre existing statutes in place UOCAVA made it mandatory and nationally uniform Voters eligible for UOCAVA who do not receive an absentee ballot from their state in time to vote may use the Federal Write In Absentee Ballot The voter s signature goes on an information sheet enclosed with this ballot not on the envelope 47 It requires following state requirements for witnesses but not for notaries Almost half the states require ballots to be returned by mail Other states allow mail along with some combination of fax or email four states allow a web portal 48 West Virginia experimented with use of smart phones but this is no longer available 49 In states editThe National Conference of State Legislatures has many tables showing rules about postal voting in every state 27 Texas voting from orbit edit In 1996 astronaut John Blaha was not able to vote in the November 1996 election because his mission on Mir began before ballots were finalized and lasted beyond Election Day 50 As a result in 1997 Texas amended its election statutes to permit voting from outer space 50 51 52 The process extends traditional postal voting the ballot is postal mailed to a designated mailbox maintained by NASA which sends it by encrypted electronic mail to the astronaut After the astronaut completes the ballot it is sent to the applicable Texas county clerk who transcribes it to a paper ballot 53 The clerk is the only individual other than the voter who knows the contents of the submitted ballot 53 The first person to vote from space was astronaut David Wolf who in 1997 voted in a local Texas election under the new law 53 All vote by mail edit As of 2022 California Colorado Hawaii Nevada Oregon Utah Vermont and Washington allow all elections to be conducted by mail In many other states there are counties or certain small elections where everyone votes by mail 27 54 California mailed every voter a ballot before the November 2020 election California voters still kept the option to vote in person 55 56 California edit In 2016 California passed SB 450 which authorizes a roll out of vote by mail across the state at county discretion 57 The state publishes postal voting rates rising from 3 in 1962 to 72 in 2020 58 For the 2018 elections 14 counties were authorized to vote by mail and five ultimately did so Madera Napa Nevada Sacramento and San Mateo In each of those five counties voter turnout was higher than the average turnout for the state 59 For 2020 all counties will be authorized to do so and as of April 8 2020 the following ten additional counties have opted in Amador Butte Calaveras El Dorado Fresno Los Angeles Mariposa Orange Santa Clara and Tuolumne 60 As of 2022 California mails every registered voter a ballot before the elections but there is still the option to vote in person 61 Colorado edit In 2013 Colorado began holding all elections by mail 62 A Pantheon Analytics study of the 2014 election showed a significant uptick in voter participation from what would have normally been low propensity voters 63 A PEW Charitable Trust study of the same election showed significant cost savings 5 Hawaii edit Hawaii instituted All Vote by Mail for all elections beginning with its primary in May 2020 64 nbsp Total votes and mailed votes by state US 2016Kansas edit Kansas conducted its Democratic primary in May 2020 entirely by mail 65 Nevada edit Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak D signed legislation authorizing mail in voting for every registered voter in the state on August 3 2020 66 Donald Trump threatened to sue 67 although Trump endorsed mail in voting in Republican controlled Florida 68 69 That law was only temporary applying only to the 2020 election On June 2 2021 Governor Sisolak signed a law making all vote by mail permanent although voters can opt out of getting ballots by mail 70 New Jersey edit New Jersey conducted a primarily vote by mail election for the primary in July 2020 albeit with a limited number of polling stations open for those who would vote provisionally as well as voters with disabilities 71 Oregon edit See also Vote by mail in Oregon nbsp An Oregon mail in ballot for a special election in May 2005In 1998 voters in Oregon passed an initiative requiring that all elections be conducted by mail Voters may also drop their ballots off at a county designated official drop site Oregon has since reduced the cost of elections and the time available to tally votes has increased Initially Oregon required receipt of votes by 8 00 pm local time on election day But starting with the general election in 2020 ballots needed to be postmarked by Election Day Also starting then pre paid postage envelopes were included with the ballots Voter turnout in Oregon is among the highest in the United States 72 Utah edit In 2014 Utah started allowing each county to make their own decision regarding whether to go to all mailed out ballots In the 2016 general election 21 of 29 counties did so That rose to 27 of 29 counties in 2018 covering over 98 of their electorate with all counties doing so in 2020 73 27 A Pantheon Analytics study of Utah s 2016 general election showed a 5 7 point higher turnout in the counties using vote by mail than those with traditional polling places with even higher differences 10 points among younger voters Vermont edit On May 18 2021 the Vermont legislature passed a bill requiring general elections to be all vote by mail 74 Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed that bill on June 7 2021 and asked the legislature to expand all vote by mail to primary elections too 75 Washington edit In 2011 the Washington legislature passed a law requiring all counties to conduct vote by mail elections 76 Local governments in Washington had the option to do so since 1987 and statewide elections had permitted it since 1993 77 By 2009 38 of the state s 39 counties all except Pierce County had conducted all elections by mail 78 Pierce County joined the rest of the state in all mail balloting by 2014 79 In Washington ballots must be postmarked by election day which helps to ensure all voters votes are counted ballot counting takes several days after election day to receive and process ballots 78 Beginning in 2018 postage is prepaid so voters do not have to use a stamp 80 Local jurisdictions edit Various local jurisdictions now have all vote by mail or run pilot programs 31 of 53 counties in North Dakota now vote by mail 81 as do over 1000 precincts in Minnesota those with fewer than 400 registered voters In 2018 pilot programs in Anchorage Alaska exceeded previous turnout records 82 and Garden County Nebraska saw higher turnout versus the state average 83 Rockville Maryland piloted vote by mail in 2019 84 In 2018 Connecticut s Governor issued Executive Order 64 directing a study of a possible move to vote by mail 85 No excuse Vote by Mail edit Florida allows postal voting for any reason 86 In 2018 Michigan passed Proposal 3 a state constitutional amendment legalizing no excuse voting by mail meaning that the voter does not need to provide a reason for requesting a mail in ballot and other election reforms In 2020 three more states joined the majority of states which already allowed no excuse voting by mail Pennsylvania Rhode Island and Virginia 27 Other states have relaxed restrictions on mail in ballots for a total of 46 states to allow voting by mail due to COVID 19 87 On May 31 2021 the Illinois legislature passed a bill that expanded curbside voting and establishes a permanent vote by mail system and it creates a permanent voter list It was signed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on June 18 2021 88 In June 2023 the Connecticut legislature sent a ballot measure to the voters which if passed in 2024 would amend the state constitution to allow no excuse postal voting Table No excuse postal voting editLinks below are Elections in LOCATION links No excuse postal voting by state and federal district 1 3 2 State or federal district No excuse postal voting implemented statewide All mail elections Permanent voter list for all voters Notes nbsp Alaska nbsp Arizona 1991 Yes nbsp California 1978 Yes since 2022 89 N A given full all mail elections nbsp Colorado Yes since 2013 N A given full all mail elections nbsp Florida 2001 nbsp Georgia 2006 nbsp Hawaii 1993 Yes since 2019 N A given full all mail elections nbsp Idaho 1972 nbsp Illinois 2006 Yes nbsp Iowa 1990 nbsp Kansas nbsp Maine 2000 nbsp Maryland Yes nbsp Massachusetts 2022 nbsp Michigan 2018 Yes nbsp Minnesota 2014 No only for disabled voters nbsp Montana Yes nbsp Nebraska 1997 nbsp Nevada Yes since 2020 N A given full all mail elections nbsp New Jersey 2006 Yes nbsp New Mexico 1993 nbsp New York 2024 3 nbsp North Carolina 2002 nbsp North Dakota nbsp Ohio 2005 nbsp Oklahoma nbsp Oregon 1998 Yes since 1998 N A given full all mail elections nbsp Pennsylvania 2020 nbsp Rhode Island 2020 nbsp South Dakota 2003 nbsp Utah 2013 Yes since 2020 N A given full all mail elections nbsp Vermont 1991 general elections only since 2021 nbsp Virginia 2020 Yes nbsp Washington 1974 Yes since 2011 N A given full all mail elections nbsp Washington D C 2023 Yes since 2023 90 2 N A given full all mail elections nbsp Wisconsin 2001 nbsp Wyoming 1991Turnout editFurther information Voter turnout United States Insofar as postal voting makes the act of voting easier it may facilitate a campaign s get out the vote efforts Campaigns can also target potential voters more efficiently by skipping those whose ballots have already been processed by the elections office Conversely face to face canvassing has been found to be less effective with postal voting 91 In 2016 the US Government Accountability Office GAO issued a report outlining turnout improvements seen in vote by mail elections 92 Researchers in 2020 have found that in elections with all mail voting overall turnout increases This increase is particularly pronounced among groups that typically have low turnout rates such as young people and people of color For instance in Colorado they found overall turnout rose 9 percentage points while it rose 16 percentage points among young people 13 among African Americans 11 among Asian Americans 10 among Latinos blue collar workers those without a high school diploma and those with less than 10 000 of wealth 8 Reliability of postal ballots editRejection statistics edit nbsp Checking absentee ballotsIn 2016 a presidential election year a total of 318 728 ballots 1 of those submitted were rejected For the states that reported a reason some of the reasons were 15 27 5 Non matching signature 23 1 Ballot missed deadline 20 0 No signature 3 0 No witness signature 1 5 Voter deceased 1 3 Voted in person 1 1 First time voter without proper identificationBy August 2020 after the next presidential primary season but before the general election more than 550 000 had already been rejected 93 Past problems edit Postal ballots have been the source of most significant vote counting disputes in recent decades according to Edward Foley director of the Election Law program at Ohio State University 94 Among the thousands of elections from 2000 to 2012 there were 491 known cases of absentee ballot fraud 95 96 11 and the Heritage Foundation lists additional cases since 2012 97 Richard Hasen a professor at UC Irvine School of Law said problems are extremely rare in the five states that rely primarily on vote by mail 98 Justin Levitt a law professor at Loyola Marymount University does not have statistics on postal ballot fraud but said I do collect anecdotal reports misconduct in the mail voting process is meaningfully more prevalent than misconduct in the process of voting in person Misconduct still amounts to only a tiny fraction of the ballots cast by mail 98 Lonna Atkeson an expert in election administration said about mail in voting fraud It s really hard to find The fact is we really don t know how much fraud there is There aren t millions of fraudulent votes but there are some 98 In 2018 a report from the US Senate Intelligence Committee of Russian meddling in the 2016 election pointed out that auditable paper ballots by definition part of all vote by mail elections were potentially safer than paperless voting systems 99 which are still used in a few states However only about half the states actually use paper ballots to conduct election audits Specific types of problems include Voter s request for postal ballot is lost or not received or processed in time in states that require one thus the voter must vote in person or not vote for example over 9 000 properly requested ballots were not sent in Wisconsin in 2020 16 Voter s request for postal ballot is altered or forged 100 101 102 In states that mail ballots to registered voters without request some voters have died or moved and any ballots not returned by the post office can get into the wrong hands 103 Election office sends voters the wrong instructions 104 or a ballot with someone else s name on it 105 or wrong ballot when offices on the ballot differ by party or district 106 Voter does not receive mailed ballot because it does not arrive at the address in time or someone else takes it 16 107 Voter misplaces ballot so must vote with provisional ballot and someone else may find and vote the original postal ballot leading to rejection of the provisional ballot 108 107 Voter is pressured to vote a certain way by family caregiver or other or provide the blank ballot to someone 109 110 Voters may be paid to vote a certain way 111 Someone collects many ballots 112 and does not deliver the ones from neighborhoods likely to vote against the collector s candidates 113 Someone collects many ballots opens envelopes and marks votes if voter has already voted fraudster can mark extra votes on same contests to invalidate ballot 114 Mail can be stolen from postal service 115 116 Staff can leave key in drop box 117 Envelope printer prints erroneous tracking code on return envelope so it may be processed inaccurately or rejected 118 119 Voter s signature on envelope is missing 55 000 in 2018 or does not match signature on file 67 000 so either there is widespread fraud being prevented by signature reviews or if these submissions were not fraudulent then valid ballots are being rejected 43 13 Forged signature on envelope is accepted as close enough to signature on file so invalid ballots are accepted 13 Signature rejection rates vary by race county and state ranging from none to 20 rejected 15 14 Election office receives the ballot late 114 000 ballots in 2018 43 120 121 in a Philadelphia experiment most ballots were misplaced by the postal service and even after they were found 21 took more than 4 days to arrive and 3 took more than a week 122 Staff who open envelopes falsify or ignore ballots 123 124 Compilation of votes omits postal ballots 125 These problems with postal ballots can be categorized as A procedural issues which may not have solutions B collection of ballots by dishonest collectors which is partly controlled in many states by limits on the number of ballots that one person can deliver though collectors can still mail in the ballots they collect 126 113 and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals disallowed Arizona s limits based on discriminatory intent 127 C signature verification which has inherent errors and may have bias 14 13 and D insider issues which are partly addressed by enough staffing quality control and openness to observation by the public or candidates Some problems have inherently limited scope such as family pressure and bribes while others can affect several percent of the vote such as signature verification citation needed Security printing edit Further information Security printing Some states say they print postal ballots on special paper to prevent forgeries 128 129 California assigns a tinted watermark to the ballots for each election 130 which is created by printing an image with a screen rather than density variations 131 Special papers microprinting magnetic ink and other measures are common to protect currency bank checks and stamps Election officials do not say that envelopes have these features nor that they review ballots based on these methods 43 15 though the Labor Department reviews paper when considering if union election ballots are forged 132 The largest US vendor of election scanners required use of its own paper as of 2015 133 and highly recommended it as of 2019 134 The paper has specified weight thickness reflectivity for compatibility with scanners but the scanner does not measure these to detect forgeries The company says colored paper may not be used Colors may be printed in areas away from the voting marks but they are scanned as either black or white no gray 134 States print bar codes on return envelopes to identify the voter coding a serial number for each envelope mailed 135 so a forger would need to access the coding system in order to forge bar codes 129 California lets voters write votes in a letter or note on any paper and enclose as many such notes in a vote by mail envelope as will fit with a signature for each on the outside Only one bar code on the envelope is needed 136 Ballot printing is centralized For example California has nine authorized ballot printers 137 Maryland uses one ballot printer state wide 138 One company Runbeck printed 36 million ballots for 214 counties in 11 states for the November 2020 election of which about half were postal ballots 139 Runbeck did not use watermarks or tracking marks in the paper at least in Maricopa County which has over 60 of Arizona s voters 140 Another company serves many counties in Ohio and Pennsylvania 141 Signature verification process edit Further information Signature Detection of forged signatures source source source source source source source Sorting vote by mail envelopes San Jose Santa Clara County California 2018Most States check signatures to attempt to prevent forged paper ballots Signature mismatches were the most common reason for rejecting postal ballots in 2016 15 and the second most common after late arrival in 2018 43 While many states accept in person votes without needing identification most require some verification on postal ballots Eighteen states simply require a signature on the ballot envelope without verifying the signature 142 The other 32 states verify if the signature matches one on file and some of these states require witnesses or notaries 143 144 The first step after receiving mailed ballots is to compare the voter s signature on the outside of the envelope with one or more signatures on file in the election office Smaller jurisdictions have temporary staff compare signatures Larger jurisdictions use computers to scan envelopes quickly decide if the signature matches well enough and set aside non matches in a separate bin Temporary staff then double check the rejections and in some places check the accepted envelopes too 13 Error rates of computerized signature reviews are not published The best academic researchers have 10 14 error rates 145 Algorithms look for a certain number of points of similarity between the compared signatures a wide range of algorithms and standards each particular to that machine s manufacturer are used to verify signatures In addition counties have discretion in managing the settings and implementing manufacturers guidelines there are no statewide standards for automatic signature verification most counties do not have a publicly available written explanation of the signature verification criteria and processes they use 13 Handwriting experts say it is extremely difficult for anyone to be able to figure out if a signature or other very limited writing sample has been forged 146 In manual signature reviews election officials with little or no training in verifying a person s signature are tasked with doing just that it s unlikely that only one or two samples will show the spectrum of a person s normal variations 146 Colorado s guide for manual verification is recommended by the federal government 147 Colorado accepts any signature that matches with respect to cursive v printed flowing v slow and deliberate overall spacing size proportions slanted v straight spelling and punctuation When signatures do not match on these items staff still accept them if staff can think of a reasonable explanation for differences 148 In a California study most counties when they manually reviewed ballot signatures had a basic presumption in favor of counting each ballot 13 California extended this standard in 2020 regulations begin with the basic presumption that the signature on the petition or ballot envelope is the voter s signature only be rejected if two different elections officials unanimously find beyond a reasonable doubt that the signature differs in multiple significant and obvious respects from all signatures in the voter s registration record 149 Texas officials must use their best judgment without training 150 Published examples show very different signatures coming from the same person 150 In 16 states when election offices reject signatures they notify the voters so they can mail another signature which may be just as hard to check or they can come to the office and vouch for the envelope usually in less than a week the other 36 states have no process to cure discrepancies 151 Notification by US mail results in more cures than email or telephone notice 13 In the Florida 2020 general election 73 of the 47 000 initially rejected ballots were cured 152 and in the 2022 Vermont primary 61 of 809 were cured 153 Rejected envelopes with ballots still unseen in them are stored in case of future challenges Accepted envelopes are opened and separated from the envelopes in a way that no one sees the external name and the ballot choices The Election Assistance Commission says machines can help but this step requires the most space of any step especially when workers have to be 6 feet apart 154 Unequal signature rejection rates edit nbsp Postal ballots rejection rates by state US November 2016 except Georgia 2018The highest error rates in signature verification are found with lay people higher than for computers which in turn make more errors than experts 155 Researchers have published error rates for computerized signature verification They compare different systems on a common database of true and false signatures The best system falsely rejects 10 of true signatures while it accepts 10 of forgeries Another system has error rates on both of 14 and the third best has error rates of 17 145 156 It is possible to be less stringent and reject fewer true signatures at the cost of also rejecting fewer forgeries which means erroneously accepting more forgeries 157 Vendors of automated signature verification claim accuracy and do not publish their error rates 158 159 160 161 Voters with short names are at a disadvantage since even experts make more mistakes on signatures with fewer turning points and intersections 162 The National Vote at Home Institute reports that 17 states do not mandate a signature verification process 163 In the November 2016 general election rejections ranged from none in Alabama and Puerto Rico to 6 of ballots returned in Arkansas Georgia Kentucky and New York 15 164 In 2020 special elections in New Jersey 10 of postal ballots were rejected much higher than the 3 rejections in the 2018 general election in New Jersey The rise was largely attributed to inexperience of many voters using postal ballots for the first time though some elections have resulted in charges regarding voter fraud One such race was the Paterson municipal election where 19 of ballots cast were disqualified Approximately 800 of the more than 3190 votes disqualified were related to the various voter fraud allegations 165 166 167 Where reasons for rejection were known in 2018 114 000 ballots arrived late 67 000 failed signature verification 55 000 lacked voter signatures and 11 000 lacked witness signatures in states that require them 43 Rejection rates are higher for ballots that claim to come from young or minority voters In the 2020 primary 168 and 2016 general 14 elections Florida officials rejected 4 of postal ballots that claimed to come from voters aged 18 25 In the 2018 general election they rejected 5 169 In Florida over age 60 or 65 rejections were only one percent in 2020 two thirds of a percent in 2018 and half a percent in 2016 However over age 90 rejection rates were above average though not as high as under age 25 169 Rejections were 2 for ballots claiming to come from Florida non white voters and 1 from white voters in all three years 168 169 14 In the 2018 Florida election 4 of postal ballots from military voters stationed inside the United States were rejected 169 Florida voters are not allowed to cure signature problems if these are discovered after election day 151 Florida rejection rates in 2016 varied by county ranging from none to 4 and up to 5 for ballots that claimed to come from blacks or Hispanics in some counties Two counties with large universities rejected 9 of 18 21 year olds Alachua and Orange while Pinellas which also has large universities rejected 0 2 of this age range 14 In Georgia s 2018 general election most counties rejected higher fractions of ballots claiming to come from black or Hispanic voters than from white voters The highest rejection rates for ballots that claimed to come from black voters were in Polk 17 Taylor and Clay 16 Putnam and Warren 14 Atkinson and Candler 13 McIntosh 12 and Glynn 10 For Hispanics Thomas and Putnam counties rejected 20 Bulloch 14 Barlow 12 Glynn 11 Decatur 10 The highest rates for whites were Pickens 13 Coffee and Polk 10 Researchers also found higher rejection rates for women which they hypothesized could relate to name changes not updated at the voter registration office 170 171 though issues with hyphenated last names can also cause signature rejections 172 Bias in computer verification depends on the set of signatures used for training the computer and bias in manual review depends on whether the temporary staff recognize names as non white citation needed Many voter registrations especially for younger voters come from driver s license applications where the signature was done on an electronic signature pad People move their hands differently when signing on paper and on electronic pads Further the pads used have low resolution so distinctive elements of paper signatures on the ballot envelopes are blurred or omitted in the electronic signatures used for comparison 13 Signatures also have more variation and therefore are harder to verify when they come from people who rarely use Roman characters such as some Asian Americans 13 Election officials find that a decline in cursive writing leads to young voters more often printing their names in signature blocks a California official said she cannot compare a printed name to a signature 13 This is a difficult process for the actual workers that reject signatures Attorney Raul Macias said Staff are under trained they re under resourced and they ll be under tremendous pressure to get results quickly and they re moving through thousands or millions of signatures While 22 states allow the curing of a ballot signature 28 do not 173 Recommendations for signature verification edit The Election Assistance Commission says computers should be set to accept only nearly perfect signature matches and humans should doublecheck a sample but they do not discuss acceptable error rates or sample sizes 147 The Election Assistance Commission says the first human check of a signature rejected by machines will average 30 seconds and a sample of decisions to accept should be checked They recommend all rejections should be checked by bipartisan teams 6 feet apart 154 who will average 3 minutes for the final decision to reject which means 6 minutes of staff time plus supervision time The commission also discusses the challenges of moving large numbers of envelopes without mixups from receipt to machines and various steps of verification rejection and voter notification to cure mismatches as well as counting and logging the number of ballots at every step They mention the extra security needed when voters send copies of identity documents to cure their signature rejection 147 The Election Assistance Commission notes that signatures over ten years old are another problem and recommends Hawaii s practice of inviting every voter to send a new signature 147 California researchers recommended that the public needs easy access to see the signature on file before mailing in ballots to further maximize matches 13 The National Vote at Home Institute recommends state wide or regional centers for signature verification to increase transparency and reduce the insider risks of temporary local staff 174 though the Election Assistance Commission notes that shared equipment may not be consistent with local chain of custody requirements and that public bidding may take months 154 Blue shift edit Main article Blue shift politics Blue shift is an observed phenomenon under which in person votes overstate the true final percent of votes for the Republican Party whose color is red while provisional and mail in votes which are counted later overstate the true final percent of votes for the Democratic Party whose color is blue 175 This means election day results can initially show a large Republican lead or red mirage but mail in ballots later demonstrate a Democratic victory This can also happen in the opposite direction when there is a blue mirage or early lead by Democrats followed by a red shift back to Republicans 176 This can lead observers to call into question the election legitimacy when in fact the election results are legitimate 177 Blue shift occurs because young voters low income voters and voters who move often are likely to vote by mail and are likely to lean Democratic 178 The phenomenon was first identified by Edward Foley of Ohio State University in 2013 178 He found that Democratic candidates are significantly more likely to gain votes during the canvass period which are the votes counted after election night 179 This asymmetry did not always exist as in the 20th century as recently as the 1996 United States presidential election Republicans and Democrats were both able to cut their opponents lead during the canvass period Foley conjectured that the 2002 passage of the Help America Vote Act accelerated the pronounced asymmetry of the blue shift phenomenon because it required states to allow provisional ballots to be cast 179 He later found that the variation in the size of the blue shift is positively associated with the number of provisional ballots and the Democratic partisanship of the state in question 180 The growth in the persistent blue shifted overtime vote began with the 2004 United States presidential election 180 Other challenges editIn the case of all postal voting or a high proportion of postal votes there cannot be traditional Election Night news coverage in which the results are delivered within hours after polls close as it takes several days to deliver and count ballots As a result it may require several days beyond the mail in deadline before results can be publicized 181 Postal voting depends on the viability of the postal service As of early 2020 the U S Postal Service has a negative net worth of 65 billion and an additional 140 billion in unfunded liabilities This financial crisis has become more pressing amidst the coronavirus pandemic as the 2 trillion economic stimulus package did not include money for the postal service 182 Alternatives editAn increasing number of states in the US now allow drive thru voting In the process voters leave their absentee ballots in a drop box at designated locations Some locations allow drop off voting 24 7 183 Many states provide voters with multiple ways to return their ballot by mail via in person secure drop boxes and at voting centers where they can get questions answered replacement ballots etc 184 Oregon now has 300 drop boxes across the state in the weeks leading up to each election and more voters now cast their ballot in person than by return mail 185 The term vote at home is starting to replace vote by mail for that reason 186 California s roll out of vote by mail is incorporating voting centers as a key part of their effort 185 Anchorage s successful pilot included many drop boxes and some voting centers 185 Expansion in 2020 election editMain article Postal voting in the 2020 United States elections See also 2020 United States elections and 2020 United States Postal Service crisis In 2020 amid the COVID 19 pandemic a significant increase in postal ballots was expected The National Vote at Home Institute which advocates postal ballots and is led by former Denver elections director Amber McReynolds analyzed all states and found that 32 states are missing major pieces of policy or best practices that ensure a secure mail ballot process 187 163 including 15 states which lack steps to verify voters addresses 17 which do not mandate a signature verification process and 30 do not have adequate options to cure defects in voter signatures 163 In many systems voters have no way to remedy disqualifications due to signature mismatches 151 While members of Congress pushed to expand absentee voting and the CDC and other public health experts advised postal voting as a form of voting which minimizes in person contact President Donald Trump claimed that expansion of absentee voting would lead to levels of voting that if you ever agreed to it you d never have a Republican elected in this country again 188 In May 2020 Trump began to claim that postal voting was highly vulnerable to fraud 189 Fact checkers said that there is no evidence of substantial fraud associated with mail voting 98 190 In July 2020 Trump suggested postponing the 2020 presidential election based on his unsubstantiated claims about extensive postal voting fraud 191 192 193 194 The new Trump appointed administration of the United States Postal Service made changes which resulted in slower delivery of mail Donald Trump openly stated that he opposes funding USPS because of mail in voting 195 In September 2020 a federal judge issued an injunction against the recent USPS actions ruling that Trump and DeJoy were involved in a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service adding that the 14 states requesting the injunction demonstrated that this attack on the Postal Service is likely to irreparably harm the states ability to administer the 2020 general election 196 The USPS warned that it could not guarantee that all ballots cast by mail in the 2020 election would arrive in time to be counted 197 For this reason election experts advocated that postal ballots be mailed weeks in advance of election day 198 A March 2021 report from the Postal Service s inspector general found that the vast majority of mail in ballots and registration materials in the 2020 election were delivered to the relevant authorities on time 199 200 The Postal Service handled approximately 135 million pieces of election related mail between September 1 and November 3 delivering 97 9 of ballots from voters to election officials within three days and 99 89 of ballots within seven days 199 201 The USPS warned that it could not guarantee that all ballots cast by mail in the 2020 election would arrive in time to be counted 202 For this reason election experts advocated that postal ballots be mailed weeks in advance of election day 198 In several court cases Republicans in national and state legislatures have pushed to restrict access or place more stringent limitations upon postal voting while Democrats have pushed to expand it or lift restrictions 203 204 205 See also editEarly voting Elections in the United States Electronic voting in the United States Voter suppressionReferences edit a b Absentee mail in voting Ballotpedia Select a state in the right sidebar menu for detailed info a b c Request a Mail Ballot District of Columbia Board of Elections a b c Democracy Maps Availability of No Excuse Absentee Voting MAP Movement Advancement Project Note asterisk on map next to NY Below map it says Note New York has enacted legislation to allow no excuse absentee voting beginning in 2024 Our map will be updated once the law takes effect Vote from Home Save Your Country Washington Monthly January 10 2016 Retrieved November 24 2018 a b Colorado Voting Reforms Early Results pewtrusts org March 22 2016 Retrieved October 25 2018 Pre Election Day Voting Just the FAQs Ma am PDF The Canvass March 2011 Retrieved July 21 2020 USPS DMM 703 8 USPS January 1 2010 Retrieved September 19 2010 a b Hill Charlotte Grumbach Jacob Bonica Adam Jefferson Hakeem May 4 2020 We Should Never Have to Vote in Person Again The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved May 17 2020 Wines Michael May 25 2020 Which Party Would Benefit Most From Voting by Mail It s Complicated The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved May 28 2020 Thompson Daniel M Wu Jennifer A Yoder Jesse Hall Andrew B June 9 2020 Universal vote by mail has no impact on partisan turnout or vote share Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117 25 14052 14056 Bibcode 2020PNAS 11714052T doi 10 1073 pnas 2007249117 ISSN 0027 8424 PMC 7322007 PMID 32518108 a b Young Ashley September 23 2016 A Complete Guide To Early And Absentee Voting Retrieved June 15 2020 Farley Robert April 10 2020 Trump s Latest Voter Fraud Misinformation FactCheck org Retrieved June 19 2020 a b c d e f g h i j k l Signature Verification and Mail Ballots Guaranteeing Access While Preserving Integrity PDF Stanford University April 15 2020 Archived from the original PDF on April 18 2020 Retrieved June 1 2020 a b c d e f Smith Daniel September 18 2018 Vote By Mail Ballots Cast in Florida PDF ACLU Florida Retrieved June 1 2020 a b c d e f The Election Administration and Voting Survey EAVS 2016 Comprehensive Report PDF Election Assistance Commission June 28 2017 Retrieved June 12 2020 a b c Corasaniti Nick Saul Stephanie April 9 2020 Inside Wisconsin s Election Mess Thousands of Missing or Nullified Ballots The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved June 12 2020 Wise Justin July 30 2020 FEC commissioner to Trump No You don t have the power to move the election The Hill Trump blocks postal funds to stymie mail in voting BBC News August 13 2020 US Postal Service warns of risks to mail in votes BBC News August 15 2020 Cohen Zachary September 3 2020 Intelligence bulletin warns Russia amplifying false claims mail in voting will lead to widespread fraud CNN Wines Michael February 27 2021 In Statehouses Stolen Election Myth Fuels a G O P Drive to Rewrite Rules The New York Times Waxman Olivia September 28 2020 Voting by Mail Dates Back to America s Earliest Years Here s How It s Changed Over the Years Time Frank Megan May 4 2021 Voting By Mail in Pennsylvania Dates Back To Colonial Times WESA Seitz Wald Alex April 19 2020 How do you know voting by mail works The U S military s done it since the Civil War NBC News Archived from the original on April 19 2020 Retrieved August 7 2020 Korb Lawrence J May 18 2020 US troops routinely vote by mail Why can t the rest of America do the same Military Times Archived from the original on May 23 2020 Retrieved August 7 2020 a b c d e f Steinbicker Paul G 1938 Absentee Voting in the United States American Political Science Review 32 5 898 907 doi 10 2307 1948225 ISSN 0003 0554 JSTOR 1948225 S2CID 145709970 a b c d e Voting Outside the Polling Place Absentee All Mail and other Voting at Home Options www ncsl org Retrieved July 2 2020 VOPP Table 3 States With Permanent Absentee Voting www ncsl org Retrieved July 2 2020 Lost your ballot Looking for a dropbox We ve got you covered The Seattle Times November 5 2016 Retrieved June 3 2020 Absentee Voting and Vote by Mail U S Election Assistance Commission November 17 2017 Retrieved June 3 2020 Harwood Matthew April 7 2020 Why a Vote by Mail Option Is Necessary Brennan Center for Justice Retrieved June 2 2020 Derysh Igor June 2 2020 Bill Barr is a liar Trump AG floats new mail vote conspiracy experts say just couldn t happen Salon Retrieved June 2 2020 U S Dept of Commerce Discussion of Barcodes Encoding PDF National Institute of Standards and Technology Archived from the original PDF on June 8 2020 Retrieved June 2 2020 Absent Ballot Information Washoe County Nev Archived from the original on November 7 2020 Retrieved June 2 2020 Frequently Asked Questions I lost the envelope for my Vote by Mail ballot how can I send in my ballot Sacramento County Calif Retrieved June 2 2020 VOPP Table 11 Receipt and Postmark Deadlines for Absentee Ballots www ncsl org Retrieved June 13 2020 Policies for Election Observers National Conference of State Legislaturres Retrieved September 16 2023 Absentee voting myths vs realities Federal Voting Assistance Program U S Army September 25 2014 Frequently Asked Questions FAQs about absentee voting Federal Voting Assistance Program THE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION AND VOTING SURVEY 2016 Comprehensive Report PDF U S Election Assistance Commission 25 June 29 2017 Retrieved October 29 2020 Two Thirds of Voters Back Vote by Mail in November 2020 NBC 5 Dallas Fort Worth April 21 2020 Retrieved April 22 2020 Two Thirds of Americans Expect Presidential Election Will Be Disrupted by COVID 19 Pew Research Center U S Politics amp Policy April 28 2020 Retrieved August 4 2020 a b c d e f Election Administration and Voting Survey EAVS 2018 Comprehensive report PDF Election Assistance Commission Retrieved June 12 2020 Federal Voting Assistance Program questions and answers Fvap gov Archived from the original on March 22 2010 Retrieved October 14 2017 The Uniformed And Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act U S Department of Justice August 6 2015 Retrieved July 2 2020 Never Resided in the U S Federal Voting Assistance Program Retrieved July 3 2020 Federal Write in Absentee Ballot PDF FVAP November 15 2019 Retrieved July 2 2020 Electronic Transmission of Ballots www ncsl org Retrieved July 2 2020 Absentee Voting Information West Virginia Secretary of State Retrieved July 2 2020 a b Verhovek Sam Howe August 26 1997 Giant Leap for the Space Crowd Voting The New York Times Retrieved November 2 2010 Democracy in Orbit Chiao to Vote in Space NASA October 21 2004 Texas Administrative Code texreg sos state tx us Retrieved February 8 2020 a b c Koren Marina November 8 2016 In 1997 He Voted From Space This Year He s Happy to Wait in Line on Earth The Atlantic Retrieved February 8 2020 VOPP Table 18 States With All Mail Elections www ncsl org February 3 2022 Retrieved August 6 2023 Ellison Stephen May 8 2020 All California Voters to Receive Mail In Ballots for 2020 Election Newsom NBC Bay Area Retrieved May 9 2020 Shaw Adam May 9 2020 Newsom order sending mail in ballots to all California voters sparks concerns Fox News Retrieved May 9 2020 California Voter s Choice Act www sos ca gov California Secretary of State Retrieved November 7 2018 Historical Vote By Mail Absentee Ballot Use in California www sos ca gov Retrieved August 4 2020 California counties slow to sign on to all mail elections San Francisco Chronicle March 18 2019 Retrieved September 10 2019 About California Voter s Choice Act www sos ca gov California Secretary of State Retrieved September 10 2019 Gov Newsom signs bill making universal vote by mail permanent in California KTLA September 27 2021 Mail Voting National Conference of State Legislatures Retrieved July 26 2014 Showalter Amelia August 8 2017 Colorado 2014 Analysis of Predicted and Actual Turnout PDF Pantheon Analytics Retrieved November 7 2018 Lauer Nancy Cook June 26 2019 Hawaii Opts for Voting by Mail U S News amp World Report Hanna John May 3 2020 Joe Biden Wins Kansas Primary Conducted Exclusively By Mail HuffPost Retrieved May 3 2020 Bowden John August 3 2020 Nevada governor signs bill to allow mail in voting after Trump promises legal challenge The Hill Retrieved August 4 2020 Swanson Ian August 3 2020 Trump vows challenge to Nevada bill expanding mail in voting The Hill Retrieved August 4 2020 Balluck Kyle August 4 2020 Trump shifts encourages vote by mail in Florida The Hill Retrieved August 4 2020 Swanson Ian August 4 2020 Trump notes GOP governor when asked why he backs mail in voting in Florida The Hill Retrieved August 4 2020 Durkee Alison Nevada Expands Mail In Voting As Other Battleground States Pass Restrictions Forbes Retrieved June 9 2021 Brent Johnson May 15 2020 N J s July 7 primary election will be mostly vote by mail during coronavirus pandemic Murphy says NJ com Retrieved May 25 2020 Why Voter Turnout In Oregon Is Incredibly High Talking Points Memo November 23 2014 Retrieved September 6 2017 Voting Rights Roundup Virginia Democrats advance redistricting reform measures Daily Kos Retrieved February 9 2020 Vermont Legislature sends mail in voting bill to governor AP News May 18 2021 Retrieved June 9 2021 Wilson Reid June 8 2021 Vermont governor signs mail in voting bill The Hill Retrieved June 9 2021 Grygiel Chris April 5 2011 Vote by mail is now the law in Washington Seattle Post Intelligencer Archived from the original on April 8 2011 Retrieved April 5 2011 Keith Ervin May 25 1990 Vote by mail gets new look in wake of low voter turnout The Seattle Times a b Tsong Nicole August 19 2009 First big all mail election results posted smoothly Vote by Mail The Seattle Times Pierce County Auditor Elections Pierce County Washington Retrieved April 27 2014 Pre paid ballot postage is coming for all of Washington State Curbed Seattle Retrieved November 24 2018 National Vote at Home Coalition NVAHC press release PDF National Vote at Home Coalition April 10 2018 Retrieved November 7 2018 Kelly Devin April 5 2018 Anchorage s vote by mail election was supposed to boost turnout It shattered a record Anchorage Daily News Retrieved November 7 2018 National Vote at Home Coalition press release PDF National Vote at Home Coalition May 17 2018 Retrieved November 7 2018 Maryland city is 1st in state to adopt mail in voting format WTOP Associated Press April 11 2018 Archived from the original on May 22 2018 Retrieved November 7 2018 Executive Order No 64 PDF State of Connecticut February 7 2018 Retrieved November 7 2018 Blumenthal Paul April 26 2020 Florida 2020 s Largest Swing State Is Pushing Voting By Mail For November HuffPost Retrieved April 26 2020 Florida is one of 34 states that either allows residents to vote absentee by mail for any reason or conducts all mail elections https trustthevote org wp content uploads 2020 05 27May20 BipartisanTruthAboutByMailVoting v3 pdf bare URL PDF Jordan Williams June 18 2021 Illinois governor signs law expanding curbside voting permanent vote by mail The Hill Gov Newsom signs bill making universal vote by mail permanent in California September 27 2021 B24 0507 Elections Modernization Amendment Act of 2021 Council of the District of Columbia Mullin Megan Kousser Thad Arceneaux Kevin 2009 Get Out the Vote by Mail A Randomized Field Experiment Testing the Effect of Mobilization in Traditional and Vote by Mail Precincts APSA 2009 Toronto Meeting Paper Social Science Research Network Elections Issues Related to Registering Voters and Administering Elections PDF U S Government Accountability Office U S GAO June 2016 More Than 550 000 Primary Absentee Ballots Rejected In 2020 Far Outpacing 2016 NPR Foley Edward B Why Vote by Mail Could be a Legal Nightmare in November Retrieved June 12 2020 Similar summary by Mark Braden former chief counsel for the Republican National Committee The shortcomings of various systems across the country in recount situations the vast majority of the time involve mail voting at 22 minutes in webinar at the National Conference of State Legislatures Who Can Vote A News21 2012 National Project Retrieved June 12 2020 Kahn Natasha and Corbin Carson Investigation election day fraud virtually nonexistent Philadelphia Inquirer Retrieved June 15 2020 Election Fraud Cases by Type of Fraud Fraudulent Use of Absentee Ballot The Heritage Foundation Retrieved June 12 2020 a b c d Farley Robert April 10 2020 Trump s Latest Voter Fraud Misinformation Retrieved June 12 2020 Russian Targeting of Election Infrastructure During The 2016 Election Summary of Draft SSCI Recommendations PDF US Senate Intelligence Committee Service The New York Times Tainted Pa Senate election is voided Retrieved June 12 2020 West Virginia mail carrier charged with attempted absentee ballot application fraud Retrieved June 12 2020 Harvey Matt Harvey December 4 2020 Pendleton County West Virginia mail carrier s sentence for attempted election fraud put on hold WV News Retrieved December 9 2020 Elkins W Va WV News Sentencing for a Pendleton County mail carrier who changed five mail in voting requests for Democrat ballots to requests for Republican ballots has been put on hold Thomas Cooper 47 of Dry Fork had been scheduled to be sentenced Friday for attempt to defraud the residents of West Virginia of a fair election and injury to the mail He could face up to 5 years in prison on the first count and up to 3 years on the second Heavily Republican Utah likes voting by mail but national GOP declares war on it Salt Lake Tribune Retrieved June 13 2020 Lai Jonathan May 18 2020 Montgomery County sent out thousands of Pa absentee ballots with flawed instructions Philadelphia Inquirer Retrieved June 22 2020 Stein Linda October 29 2021 Delco Officials Admit Sending Hundreds Of Ballots To Wrong Voters Delaware Valley Journal Retrieved November 1 2021 Lai Jonathan May 26 2020 Montco sent 2 000 Pa voters the wrong ballots for next week s primary Philadelphia Inquirer Retrieved June 22 2020 a b 28 Million Mail In Ballots Went Missing in Last Four Elections Retrieved June 12 2020 Provisional Ballots www ncsl org Retrieved June 12 2020 Glenn R Simpson Evan Perez December 19 2000 Brokers Exploit Absentee Voters Elderly Are Top Targets for Fraud The Wall Street Journal ISSN 0099 9660 Retrieved June 12 2020 Bender William Nursing home resident s son That s voter fraud Retrieved June 12 2020 The real vote fraud opportunity has arrived casting your ballot by mail NBC News Retrieved September 6 2017 Curtis Gans director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate said vote buying and bribery could occur more easily with mail voting and absentee voting At a polling place someone who bribed voters would have no way to verify that the bribe worked A person who bribes mail voters could watch as they mark ballots or even mark ballots for them Rahman Jayed May 12 2020 Election board decides not to count more than 800 Paterson ballots amid voter fraud allegations Paterson Times Retrieved July 17 2020 a b What is ballot harvesting and how is it affecting Southern California elections Orange County Register May 17 2020 Retrieved June 12 2020 Central figure in North Carolina absentee ballot fraud indicted on multiple counts Retrieved June 12 2020 Rushing Ellie December 17 2021 Thieves are stealing checks from USPS collection boxes across Philly and trying to get mail carriers keys Philadelphia Inquirer Retrieved December 21 2021 McDade Mary Beth August 23 2021 300 recall ballots drugs multiple driver s licenses found in vehicle of passed out felon Torrance police KTLA 5 Retrieved December 21 2021 Voter finds keys left inside lock of LA County ballot drop off box CBS Los Angeles November 2 2022 Retrieved November 5 2022 Public Safety Briefs Ventura County Star September 5 2021 Retrieved September 5 2021 envelope bar codes that were duplicated by the manufacturer K amp H Election Services Notice of Print Vendor Error PDF Ventura County Clerk Recorder September 3 2021 Retrieved September 5 2021 Service Capital News In 2018 nearly 7 000 absentee ballots arrived too late to be counted Virginia Mercury Retrieved June 12 2020 If you vote by mail in Florida it s 10 times more likely that ballot won t count Miami Herald Retrieved March 27 2019 Vote by mail experiment reveals potential problems within postal voting system ahead of November election CBS News July 24 2020 Retrieved July 25 2020 Mazzei Patricia October 28 2016 Two women busted for election fraud in Miami Dade in 2016 Miami Herald Retrieved June 12 2020 Judge hears testimony in Hawkins case Retrieved June 12 2020 Beilman Elizabeth Jeffersonville City Council At large recount tally sheets show vote differences Retrieved June 12 2020 VOPP Table 10 Who Can Collect and Return an Absentee Ballot Other Than the Voter www ncsl org Retrieved June 12 2020 Opinion No 18 15845 D C No 2 16 cv 01065 DLR Democratic National Committee et al v Katie Hobbs et al PDF US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit March 25 2020 Retrieved June 18 2020 We ve got to get going States under pressure to plan for the general election amid a pandemic PBS NewsHour May 4 2020 Retrieved July 25 2020 a b Farley Robert June 25 2020 Trump s Shaky Warning About Counterfeit Mail In Ballots Retrieved July 25 2020 Ballot Printing California Secretary of State www sos ca gov Retrieved December 29 2020 Padilla Alex August 5 2020 General Election Ballot Tint and Watermark Assignment PDF California Secretary of State Fox Patricia June 19 2012 Statement of Reasons U S Department of Labor Retrieved July 25 2020 ES amp S April 30 2015 Ballot Production Guide PDF Citizens Oversight Projects Retrieved July 1 2021 a b ES amp S July 22 2019 EVS 6042 CA Election Management System PDF California Sec of State Retrieved July 1 2021 Alfred Ng August 28 2020 How to commit mail in voting fraud It s nearly impossible CNET Wikidata Q99676175 2 CCR 20991 b 9 and 11 PDF California Sec of State October 1 2020 Retrieved October 5 2020 Ballot Printer Ballot on Demand BOD Certification California Secretary of State www sos ca gov Retrieved October 28 2020 Opilo Emily July 15 2020 Maryland searching for new ballot printing vendor for November elections after problems in primary Baltimore Sun Retrieved October 28 2020 Wollan Malia October 26 2020 20 000 Ballots an Hour With Paper and Ink by the Ton The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved October 28 2020 Fifield Jen April 28 2021 Arizona election auditors are running ballots under UV light What could they be looking for Arizona Republic Retrieved April 30 2021 Epstein Reid J October 16 2020 In Ohio a Printing Company Is Overwhelmed and Mail Ballots Are Delayed The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved October 28 2020 Buchanan Larry Parlapiano Alicia October 7 2020 Two of These Mail Ballot Signatures Are by the Same Person Which Ones The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 2 2020 Verification of Absentee Ballots www ncsl org Retrieved July 2 2020 Specht Paul NC absentee ballots require 2 witnesses Is that unique PolitiFact Poynter Institute Retrieved May 12 2020 a b These systems handle scanned offline signatures from multiple people WI writer independent Hafemann Luiz G Robert Sabourin and Luiz S Oliveira 2017 Offline handwritten signature verification Literature review 2017 Seventh International Conference on Image Processing Theory Tools and Applications IPTA IEEE pp 1 8 arXiv 1507 07909 doi 10 1109 IPTA 2017 8310112 ISBN 978 1 5386 1842 4 S2CID 206932295 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link a b Armitage Susie November 5 2018 Handwriting Disputes Cause Headaches for Some Absentee Voters ProPublica Retrieved June 1 2020 a b c d Signature Verification and Cure Process PDF US Election Assistance Commission May 20 2020 Retrieved June 17 2020 Colorado Secretary of State Signature Verification Guide PDF Colorado Secretary of State September 13 2018 Archived from the original PDF on November 4 2021 Retrieved July 21 2020 2 CCR 20960 b and j PDF California Sec of State October 1 2020 Retrieved October 5 2020 a b Levine Sam July 8 2020 Unbelievably unfair thousands of Americans face having votes rejected in election The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved July 17 2020 a b c Verification of Absentee Ballots National Council of State Legislators Retrieved June 1 2020 Smith Daniel February 16 2021 Casting Rejecting and Curing Vote by Mail Ballots in Florida s 2020 General Election PDF All Voting Is Local Retrieved October 8 2022 Mearhoff Sarah August 19 2022 Vermonters cured majority of defective ballots in primary voting resulting in low rejection rate VTDigger Retrieved October 9 2022 a b c Inbound Ballot Process PDF US Election Assistance Commission May 20 2020 Retrieved June 17 2020 Srihari Sargur N August 12 2010 Computational Methods for Handwritten Questioned Document Examination 1 FINAL REPORT to Dept of justice Award Number 2004 IJ CX K050 CiteSeerX 10 1 1 186 175 Bibi Kiran Naz Saeeda Rehman Arshia January 1 2020 Biometric signature authentication using machine learning techniques Current trends challenges and opportunities Multimedia Tools and Applications 79 1 289 340 doi 10 1007 s11042 019 08022 0 ISSN 1573 7721 S2CID 199576552 Igarza Juan Goirizelaia Inaki Espinosa Koldo Hernaez Inmaculada Mendez Raul Sanchez Jon November 26 2003 Online Handwritten Signature Verification Using Hidden Markov Models CIARP 2003 Vol 2905 pp 391 399 doi 10 1007 978 3 540 24586 5 48 SignatureXpert for Vote by Mail PDF Parascript May 5 2020 Retrieved July 21 2020 Agilis Ballot Packet Sorting System PDF Runbeck November 7 2019 Criterion Elevate www fluenceautomation com Retrieved July 21 2020 Vote By Mail Best Practices Webinar Series www2 bluecrestinc com Retrieved July 21 2020 Sita Jodi Found Bryan Rogers Douglas K September 2002 Forensic Handwriting Examiners Expertise for Signature Comparison Journal of Forensic Sciences 47 5 1117 24 doi 10 1520 JFS15521J ISSN 0022 1198 PMID 12353558 a b c Vote at Home Policy Actions 1 and 2 Stars PDF National Vote at Home Institute May 2020 Archived from the original PDF on June 6 2020 Retrieved June 18 2020 Salame Richard June 18 2020 As States Struggle With Vote by Mail Many Thousands If Not Millions of Ballots Could Go Uncounted in November Type Investigations Retrieved June 18 2020 O Dea Colleen June 10 2020 One in 10 Ballots Rejected in Last Month s Vote by Mail Elections NJ Spotlight Retrieved July 17 2020 1 in 5 Ballots Rejected as Fraud Is Charged in N J Mail In Election RealClearPolitics Retrieved July 30 2020 NJ com Rodrigo Torrejon NJ Advance Media for June 25 2020 Voting fraud charges filed against Paterson councilman and councilman elect nj Retrieved July 30 2020 a b Cao Diana June 24 2020 Florida Election Analysis PDF Stanford MIT Healthy Elections Project Retrieved July 17 2020 a b c d Baringer Anna Michael C Herron Daniel A Smith April 25 2020 Voting by Mail and Ballot Rejection Lessons from Florida for Elections in the Age of the Coronavirus PDF University of Florida Retrieved July 17 2020 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Shino Enrijeta Mara Suttmann Lea Daniel A Smith May 19 2020 Voting by Mail in a VENMO World Assessing Rejected Absentee Ballots in Georgia PDF University of Florida Archived from the original PDF on May 22 2021 Retrieved July 18 2020 Wilkie Jordan October 12 2018 Exclusive High Rate of Absentee Ballot Rejection Reeks of Voter Suppression Who What Why Retrieved June 18 2020 Viebeck Elise July 16 2020 Tens of thousands of mail ballots have been tossed out in this year s primaries What will happen in November The Washington Post Retrieved July 18 2020 Signature verification could complicate massive mail ballot count experts say ABC News What to Consider When You re Expecting More Absentee Voting PDF National Conference of State Legislatures May 13 2020 Retrieved June 17 2020 Li Yimeng Hyun Michelle Alvarez R Michael March 27 2020 Why Do Election Results Change After Election Day The Blue Shift in California Elections American Government and Politics doi 10 33774 apsa 2020 s43xx S2CID 242728072 Beware the blue mirage and the red mirage on election night NBC News November 3 2020 Hyun Michelle March 30 2020 The Blue Shift in California Elections Election Updates electionupdates caltech edu Retrieved August 1 2020 a b Lai Jonathan January 27 2020 How does a Republican lead on election night and still lose Pennsylvania It s called the blue shift Philadelphia Inquirer Retrieved July 31 2020 a b Foley Edward B November 12 2013 A Big Blue Shift Measuring an Asymmetrically Increasing Margin of Litigation Journal of Law and Politics 27 SSRN 2353352 a b Foley Edward B Stewart III Charles August 28 2015 Explaining the Blue Shift in Election Canvassing SSRN 2653456 Blumenthal Paul May 6 2020 It s Time To End Election Night In America HuffPost Retrieved May 6 2020 Goodkind Nicole March 30 2020 USPS warns it might have to shutter by June as 2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package provides no funding Fortune Retrieved April 1 2020 Chuck Squatrigli November 4 2008 It s Time for Drive Thru Voting Wired Retrieved September 19 2010 Voting at Home Across the States PDF National Vote at Home Institute November 12 2018 Archived from the original PDF on June 21 2020 Retrieved June 19 2020 a b c Mailed out Ballot Return Choices PDF National Vote at Home Institute July 20 2019 Archived from the original PDF on October 11 2019 Retrieved June 19 2020 Calicchio Dom May 21 2020 Pelosi touts 3 6B vote by mail bill now called Voting at Home after Trump warnings to Michigan Nevada Retrieved June 20 2020 Hindi Saja May 24 2020 The president says all mail ballots benefit Democrats and lead to rampant voter fraud Colorado says no Retrieved June 18 2020 Bump Philip Analysis Trump just said what Republicans have been trying not to say for years via www washingtonpost com Steinhauser Paul May 26 2020 Trump charges voting by mail will result in rigged election Fox News Retrieved June 13 2020 Yen Hope August 8 2020 AP FACT CHECK Trump misleads on mail ballots virus vaccine AP News Retrieved August 17 2020 Trump floats delaying election despite lack of authority to do so CNN July 30 2020 Retrieved July 30 2020 Trump Suggests Unprecedented Delay to November Election But Congress Sets the Date www nbcnewyork com July 30 2020 Retrieved July 30 2020 Trump floats idea of delaying election congressional Republicans reject idea Reuters July 30 2020 Retrieved July 30 2020 Trump floats delaying 2020 election Politico July 30 2020 Retrieved July 30 2020 Ellie Kaufman Marshall Cohen Jason Hoffman Nicky Robertson August 13 2020 Trump says he opposes funding USPS because of mail in voting CNN Retrieved August 15 2020 Federal Judge Rules Trump and Louis DeJoy Waged Politically Motivated Attack Against USPS Will Rescind Recent Changes September 17 2020 Cox Erin Viebeck Elise Bogage Jacob Ingraham Christopher August 14 2020 Postal Service warns 46 states their voters could be disenfranchised by delayed mail in ballots The Washington Post Retrieved August 14 2020 a b Berman Russell August 14 2020 What Really Scares Voting Experts About the Postal Service The Atlantic Retrieved August 14 2020 a b Naylor Brian March 9 2021 Postal Service Delivered Vast Majority Of Mail Ballots On Time Report Finds National Public Radio Retrieved December 5 2022 Service Performance of Election and Political Mail During the November 2020 General Election PDF USPS Office of Inspector General March 5 2021 Retrieved December 5 2022 New USPS election division will oversee mail in ballots Associated Press July 28 2022 Retrieved December 5 2022 Cox Erin Viebeck Elise Bogage Jacob Ingraham Christopher August 14 2020 Postal Service warns 46 states their voters could be disenfranchised by delayed mail in ballots The Washington Post Retrieved August 14 2020 Rutenberg Jim Haberman Maggie Corasaniti Nick April 10 2020 Why Republicans Are So Afraid of Vote by Mail The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved November 1 2020 Broadwater Luke October 12 2020 Both Parties Fret as More Democrats Request Mail Ballots in Key States The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved November 1 2020 Viebeck Elise Courts view GOP fraud claims skeptically as Democrats score key legal victories over mail voting The Washington Post ISSN 0190 8286 Retrieved November 1 2020 Further reading editMichelle Ye Hee Lee August 18 2020 What s the difference between absentee and mail in voting The Washington Post The two terms are often used interchangeablyExternal links editVote By Mail Absentee Voting Information from Rock the Vote Everything you need to know to vote Tool to request absentee ballots and explanations from Vote org Comparisons of states from National Conference of State Legislatures Changes due to Covid 19 from Ballotpedia State data from Election Assistance Commission Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Postal voting in the United States amp oldid 1182033369, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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