More Americans than ever before can vote by mail this year, as states prepare to hold an election under the conditions of a pandemic.
But President Donald Trump’s false claims about the risks of mail voting, problems at the Postal Service and the sheer variety of rules around mail voting — many of them changed because of the global health crisis — have created confusion about the systems.
As of Aug. 17, seven states, including Texas, New York and South Carolina, require an explained excuse for absentee voting. Thirty-four states, including Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio, allow absentee voting for all residents citing the coronavirus or without specifying a reason. And Washington, D.C., and nine states, including Utah, California and Nevada, mail ballots directly to voters.
When officials find problems with voter information, signatures or other details, they contact the voter to account for the issue. If necessary, they send the ballots to prosecutors to investigate.Voting by mail in the United States dates at least to the middle of the 19th century, when another national crisis prevented voters from casting their ballots at home.
The solution for many states was more voting by mail, a trend that continued for decades, especially in the West. By the 1960s and ’70s, every state offered some ability for people to cast their vote by mail. Some states continued to expand the opportunity. In 1978, California became the first state to allow absentee voting without an excuse, for example, and in 2000, Oregon became the first state to conduct a presidential election entirely by mail.
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