Vote By Mail
Date of last comprehensive review: 9/8/2020
| State | COVID-19 is not an acceptable reason to request application for mail-in ballot unless sick or exposed (as of September 16, 2020) | Witness or notary signature required for mail-in ballot (as of September 1, 2020) | Permanent mail-in ballot system | Automatic mail-in ballot system in response to COVID-19 (0,1,2 2 being conditional- see notes for details) | Automatic applications sent for mail-in ballots in response to COVID-19 (0,1,2 2 being conditional- see notes for details) | Last date of receipt of mail-in ballot request for the general election (by mail or online) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | ■ | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Alaska | ■ | 0 | 2 | NotesAK – only sent ballot applications to those 65 and older | |||
| Arizona | 0 | 0 | NotesAZ – already mails ballots by request. | ||||
| Arkansas | 0 | 0 | |||||
| California | 1 | 0 | -- | ||||
| Colorado | ■ | 0 | 0 | -- | |||
| Connecticut | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Delaware | 0 | 1 | |||||
| District of Columbia | 1 | 0 | -- | ||||
| Florida | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Georgia | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Hawaii | ■ | 0 | 0 | -- | |||
| Idaho | 0 | 2 | NotesID – only for the primary | ||||
| Illinois | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Indiana | ■ | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Iowa | 0 | 1 | NotesIA passed a law preventing automatic sending of ballot applications without legislative consent. This consent was later granted. | ||||
| Kansas | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Kentucky | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Louisiana | ■ | ■ | 0 | 0 | |||
| Maine | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Maryland | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Massachusetts | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Michigan | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | NotesMN – Jurisdictions with fewer than 400 registered voters have the option to mail ballots to all voters. | ||||
| Mississippi | ■ | 0 | 0 | -- | |||
| Missouri | ■ | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Montana | 2 | 0 | -- | NotesMT – Counties were given the option but it was not made a statewide policy. | |||
| Nebraska | 2 | 1 | NotesNE – counties with fewer than 10,000 people have the option to mail ballots. | ||||
| Nevada | 1 | 0 | -- | ||||
| New Hampshire | ■ | 0 | 0 | -- | |||
| New Jersey | 1 | 0 | -- | ||||
| New Mexico | 0 | 2 | NotesNM – only some counties are mailing ballot applications. Anyone can request an absentee ballot though. | ||||
| New York | 0 | 2 | NotesNY – mail in ballot applications were sent for the June primary only. | ||||
| North Carolina | 0 | 0 | |||||
| North Dakota | 0 | 1 | -- | ||||
| Ohio | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Oklahoma | ■ | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Oregon | ■ | 0 | 0 | -- | |||
| Pennsylvania | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Rhode Island | 0 | 2 | NotesRI – automatically sent for the June primary only. | ||||
| South Carolina | ■ | 0 | 0 | NotesSC – As of September 16th SC changed its rules to allow voters to use the state of emergency as an excuse to VBM. The state also waived the signature requirement but on Oct 5th this was overturned by the Supreme Court. | |||
| South Dakota | 0 | 1 | -- | ||||
| Tennessee | ■ | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Texas | ■ | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Utah | ■ | 0 | 0 | -- | |||
| Vermont | 2 | 2 | -- | NotesVT – automatic ballot for general election only; automatic ballot application for primary only | |||
| Virginia | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Washington | ■ | 0 | 0 | -- | |||
| West Virginia | 0 | 2 | NotesWV - Only sent applications for the May elections | ||||
| Wisconsin | ■ | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Wyoming | 0 | 1 | -- | NotesWY - Sent ballot requests for both primary and general elections | |||
| Total | 5 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 19 |