DOCSLIB.ORG

Absentee Voting and Vote by Mail

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Absentee Voting and Vote by Mail CHapteR 7 ABSENTEE VOTING AND VOTE BY MAIL Introduction some States the request is valid for one or more years. In other States, an application must be com- Ballots are cast by mail in every State, however, the pleted and submitted for each election. management of absentee voting and vote by mail varies throughout the nation, based on State law. Vote by Mail—all votes are cast by mail. Currently, There are many similarities between the two since Oregon is the only vote by mail State; however, both involve transmitting paper ballots to voters and several States allow all-mail ballot voting options receiving voted ballots at a central election office for ballot initiatives. by a specified date. Many of the internal procedures for preparation and mailing of ballots, ballot recep- Ballot Preparation and Mailing tion, ballot tabulation and security are similar when One of the first steps in preparing to issue ballots applied to all ballots cast by mail. by mail is to determine personnel and facility and The differences relate to State laws, rules and supply needs. regulations that control which voters can request a ballot by mail and specific procedures that must be Facility Needs: followed to request a ballot by mail. Rules for when Adequate secure space for packaging the outgoing ballot requests must be received, when ballots are ballot envelopes should be reviewed prior to every mailed to voters, and when voted ballots must be election, based on the expected quantity of ballots returned to the election official—all defer according to be processed. Depending upon the number of ballot to State law. styles and quantity of ballots, adequate shelving and Listed below are the various types of voting a security-controlled storage area must be in place. by mail: Permanent absentee—usually, but not always, NOTE If inserting is performed at a mailing service, extra reserved for the elderly and/or those voters with space may not be as critical. disabilities. These voters automatically receive a ballot in the mail for every election. Some State Space will be required for sorting undeliverable bal- laws provide for periodic review of the “permanent” lots, since they should be reviewed immediately. Space status, specifically if the voter does not cast a ballot will also be required for processing returned voted ballots: after several elections. Signature Verification Absentee (Voter must provide a reason or excuse)— requires voters to certify that they meet certain Challenged Ballots criteria, i.e. absent from the jurisdiction on Elec- E nve lop e s tion Day, temporarily ill or disabled, etc. Some Separating Ballots from Envelopes States require that the application to request a Duplication, if required ballot must be notarized. Early Voting/Absentee (Voter does not have to Staffing Needs: provide a reason or excuse)—based on State law, If ballot insertion is done in-house, part-time and/ voters may submit a request to vote by mail. In or regular employees, working in teams of two, are Election Management Guidelines 49 assigned and managed in a staged work flow area. Close of registration Various teams should be set up to help control the Deadline for public review of ballot design flow of materials and expedite the overall procedures: and content Control Team Developing the ballot order and finalizing Labeling Team contract negotiation with the ballot printer Packet Assembly Team Date that ballot file is due at the printer Support Team Delivery date for printed ballots Sort Team Logic and accuracy testing Deadline for mailing of military and NOTE If outgoing mail ballot preparations are to be done overseas ballots off-site at a mailing house service, election office staff Date for initial mailing of absentee ballots supervision is recommended. Last date that absentee ballots can be mailed If the election returned ballot processing is Last day for receipt of voted absentee ballots done in-house, review State law and regulations to Once the timeline has been developed, staff determine if a sworn election worker board must be assignments and deadlines can be incorporated. in place, or whether supervisors can be regular staff, Determining the number of ballots to order is whose only duty is to oversee the process. It is impor- often stipulated by State law or State administrative tant to plan for peak periods which will require either policies and procedures. If not, the ballot order can more personnel, staggered shifts, or overtime. be developed by use of a spreadsheet containing the number of voters in each precinct multiplied by the Equipment and Supplies: percentage of ballots expected to be requested and/or Equipment and supply needs must also be evaluated reviewing the prior election turn-out by precinct. as it relates to space needs. These may include: Ability to run data exports/labels for mailing NOTE It is important to increase the ballot order to provide companies for extra ballots needed to develop necessary logic and Software that provides CASS certification accuracy testing and to provide for provisional, spoiled (postal barcode) and/or replacement ballots. Insertion, folding and sealing machines Before meeting with your ballot printer, make P r i nte r s decisions regarding the following: Postage meter and envelope sealer machine Quantities and different variations (ballot styles). Automatic letter openers Consider possible weight limitations (printing Computers and bar code devices instructions back-to-back will reduce the amount of Storage shelves paper and overall weight of the mail). Mail trays Consider different colors for different ballot types or districts. File storage boxes Review any specific State requirements for ballots, Tamper-evident tape i.e. numbered, detachable stub on each ballot. Ballot Preparation and Printing Include required statutory information per The first step in preparation for printing and distribu- ballot type. tion of ballots is to develop a timeline detailing each For Primary Elections, remember to analyze the step in the process. Examples of dates to be included number of non-affiliated voters (consider buffer- on a timeline are: ing ballot quantities to accommodate for party Filing deadline changes or parties opening their Primary). 50 U.S. Election Assistance Commission Prior to every election, election officials should NOTE Print these envelopes in ballot order instead of also contact the local post office to review all policies alphabetically to improve accuracy and efficiency when and procedures relating to mailing, tracking and pulling and inserting ballots into outgoing envelopes. receiving the ballots. If you plan to use an outside mail service, you should also include a review of election Implement bar code technology for easy updating office internal policies and procedures and contract of voter history when return ballot envelopes are requirements with the mail service vendor. Listed below received in the mail. are possible items to review and consider: Utilize the official election postal indicia on all Identify timelines and scheduling (may want to outgoing and return ballot envelopes. Remember to allow for possible delays). review any envelope design changes with your local Identify staffing needs at all stages of the process postal authority. It is recommended that you (on-site supervision may be required). request their written approval on any changes. Identify staging requirements (work areas for Discuss options for the return mailing address barcoding, tray assembly, zipping/sorting, etc.). for voted ballots with your local post office. Options include: Consider quality control and security issues. Indi- cate how ballot transportation security needs are to • Your office address and zip plus 4 be met (i.e. from office or vendor to mailing house • Post Office assigns a special “plus 4” for the elec- or from mailing house to Post Office). tions office only Specify various quality control issues (tracking • Establish a specific Post Office box for returned and audit trails). ballot envelopes. Establish method for addressing/labeling envelopes. For inserts that may be needed, check with vendor Ballot Mailing on insert capability. Examples include: IMPORTANT As soon as printed ballots are delivered, • Secrecy envelopes conduct routine logic and accuracy testing on all ballot • Return envelopes styles. This logic and accuracy test MUST be completed • Ballot (one or more) prior to mailing or issuing any ballots to voters. • Local Voters’ Pamphlet, if applicable • Drop site information, if applicable It is important to track the number of envelopes printed each day and balance that number to the Remember to review outgoing and return ballot number of voter records flagged in the voter file that envelopes before placing new orders. New technol- were issued mail ballots on each day. Print a master ogy and postal policies/procedures can improve the listing of voter names issued absentee ballots as a management of packaging outgoing envelopes and part of your audit trail for each election. Each day that receiving voted ballots. envelopes are printed, a master listing of voter names The Post Office can review or help you design should also be printed and balanced to the number outgoing and return envelopes to ensure they meet of envelopes printed, inserted, and delivered to the the necessary postal standards for automated han- post office every day. This audit trail will also provide dling. This includes review and assistance with the the necessary tool for your use in tracking and veri- proper wording and placement of endorsements on fying your printed ballot inventory. your envelopes as they apply to the Post Office. They Coordinate delivery of the outgoing ballots with will also provide a camera-ready copy of the front your local post office. They will schedule a time frame side of both outgoing and return envelopes for the that allows for the immediate distribution of ballots. printer. This will include, for the return envelope, the 11-digit barcode for your return address.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Working Group Report and Nine Policy Recommendations by the PES Working Group on Fighting Voter Abstention
    Working Group report and nine policy recommendations by the PES Working Group on fighting voter abstention Chaired by PES Presidency Member Mr. Raymond Johansen Report adopted by the PES Presidency on 17 March 2017 2 Content: 1. Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4 2. Summary of the nine policy recommendations…………………………………………………………..………6 3. European elections, national rules….…………………………………………………………………………………. 7 4. The Millennial generation and strategies to connect…………..…………………………………………… 13 5. Seven key issues with nine policy recommendations…………..…………………………………………… 20 Early voting……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….20 Access to polling stations…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 22 Age limits for voting and standing for election…………………………………………………………………. 23 Voting registration as a precondition…………………………………………………………………………….... 25 Voting from abroad…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..26 Safe electronic systems of voting……………………………………………………………………………………… 28 Citizens’ awareness…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 30 Annexes Summary of the PES working group`s mandate and activity………………………………………..……33 References……..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………41 3 SUMMARY The labour movement fought and won the right to vote for all. Therefore we in particular are concerned about the trend of too many voters not using the fundamental democratic right to vote. Since the European Parliament was first elected in 1979, we have seen turnout steadily decrease. Turnout in 2014 reached a historic low. We must
    [Show full text]
  • Pre-Election Toplines: Oregon Early Voting Information Center 2020 Pre
    Oregon RV Poll October 22 - October 31, 2020 Sample 2,008 Oregon Registered Voters Margin of Error ±2.8% 1. All things considered, do you think Oregon is headed in the right direction, or is it off on the wrong track? Right direction . 42% Wrong track . 47% Don’t know . 11% 2. Have you, or has anyone in your household, experienced a loss of employment income since the COVID-19 pandemic began? Yes .....................................................................................37% No ......................................................................................63% 3. How worried are you about your personal financial situation? Veryworried ............................................................................17% Somewhat worried . .36% Not too worried . 33% Not at all worried . 13% Don’tknow ..............................................................................0% 4. How worried are you about the spread of COVID-19 in your community? Veryworried ............................................................................35% Somewhat worried . .34% Not too worried . 19% Not at all worried . 12% Don’tknow ..............................................................................0% 5. How much confidence do you have in the following people and institutions? A great deal of Only some Hardly any No confidence confidence confidence confidence Don’t know Governor Kate Brown 32% 22% 9% 35% 2% Secretary of State Bev Clarno 18% 24% 12% 16% 30% The Oregon State Legislature 14% 37% 21% 21% 8% The officials who run Oregon state elections 42% 27% 12% 12% 7% The officials who run elections in [COUNTY NAME] 45% 30% 10% 7% 8% The United States Postal Service 39% 40% 12% 7% 2% 1 Oregon RV Poll October 22 - October 31, 2020 6. Which of the following best describes you? I definitely will not vote in the November general election . 5% I will probably not vote in the November general election .
    [Show full text]
  • Black Box Voting Ballot Tampering in the 21St Century
    This free internet version is available at www.BlackBoxVoting.org Black Box Voting — © 2004 Bev Harris Rights reserved to Talion Publishing/ Black Box Voting ISBN 1-890916-90-0. You can purchase copies of this book at www.Amazon.com. Black Box Voting Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century By Bev Harris Talion Publishing / Black Box Voting This free internet version is available at www.BlackBoxVoting.org Contents © 2004 by Bev Harris ISBN 1-890916-90-0 Jan. 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever except as provided for by U.S. copyright law. For information on this book and the investigation into the voting machine industry, please go to: www.blackboxvoting.org Black Box Voting 330 SW 43rd St PMB K-547 • Renton, WA • 98055 Fax: 425-228-3965 • [email protected] • Tel. 425-228-7131 This free internet version is available at www.BlackBoxVoting.org Black Box Voting © 2004 Bev Harris • ISBN 1-890916-90-0 Dedication First of all, thank you Lord. I dedicate this work to my husband, Sonny, my rock and my mentor, who tolerated being ignored and bored and galled by this thing every day for a year, and without fail, stood fast with affection and support and encouragement. He must be nuts. And to my father, who fought and took a hit in Germany, who lived through Hitler and saw first-hand what can happen when a country gets suckered out of democracy. And to my sweet mother, whose an- cestors hosted a stop on the Underground Railroad, who gets that disapproving look on her face when people don’t do the right thing.
    [Show full text]
  • Fresh Perspectives NCDOT, State Parks to Coordinate on Pedestrian, Bike Bridge For
    Starts Tonight Poems Galore •SCHS opens softball play- offs with lop-sided victory Today’s issue includes over Red Springs. •Hornets the winners and win- sweep Jiggs Powers Tour- ning poems of the A.R. nament baseball, softball Ammons Poetry Con- championships. test. See page 1-C. Sports See page 3-A See page 1-B. ThePublished News since 1890 every Monday and Thursday Reporterfor the County of Columbus and her people. Thursday, May 12, 2016 Fresh perspectives County school Volume 125, Number 91 consolidation, Whiteville, North Carolina 75 Cents district merger talks emerge at Inside county meeting 3-A By NICOLE CARTRETTE News Editor •Top teacher pro- motes reading, paren- Columbus County school officials are ex- tal involvement. pected to ask Columbus County Commission- ers Monday to endorse a $70 million plan to consolidate seven schools into three. 4-A The comprehensive study drafted by Szotak •Long-delayed Design of Chapel Hill was among top discus- murder trial sions at the Columbus County Board of Com- set to begin here missioners annual planning session held at Southeastern Community College Tuesday Monday. night. While jobs and economic development, implementation of an additional phase of a Next Issue county salary study, wellness and recreation talks and expansion of natural gas, water and sewer were among topics discussed, the board spent a good portion of the four-hour session talking about school construction. No plans The commissioners tentatively agreed that they had no plans to take action on the propos- al Monday night and hinted at wanting more details about coming to an agreement with Photo by GRANT MERRITT the school board about funding the proposal.
    [Show full text]
  • Evidence from Norway How Do Political Rights Influence Immigrant
    Voting Rights and Immigrant Incorporation: Evidence from Norway JEREMY FERWERDA, HENNING FINSERAAS AND JOHANNES BERGH ∗ How do political rights influence immigrant integration? In this study, we demonstrate that the timing of voting rights extension plays a key role in fos- tering political incorporation. In Norway, non-citizens gain eligibility to vote in local elections after three years of residency. Drawing on individual-level registry data and a regression discontinuity design, we leverage the exoge- nous timing of elections relative to the start of residency periods to identify the effect of early access to political institutions. We find that immigrants who received early access were more likely to participate in subsequent elec- ∗ Jeremy Ferwerda, Dartmouth College, Department of Government 202 Silsby Hall Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA, email: [email protected]. Henning Finseraas, Institute for Social Research, P.box 3233 Elisenberg, 0208 Oslo, Norway e-mail: henning.fi[email protected]. Johannes Bergh, Institute for Social Research, P.box 3233 Elisenberg, 0208 Oslo, Norway e-mail: [email protected]. We would like to thank Dag Arne Christensen, Jens Hainmueller, Axel West Pedersen, Victoria Shineman, Øyvind Skorge, and participants at the 6th annual workshop on Comparative Ap- proaches to Immigration, Ethnicity, and Integration, Yale, June 2016, the 6th annual general conference of the European Political Science Association in Brussels, June 2016, and the Politi- cal Behavior workshop in Toronto, November 2016 for useful comments and suggestions. Grant numbers 227072 (Research Council of Norway) and 236786 (Research Council of Norway) are acknowledged. Voting Rights and Immigrant Incorporation 2 toral contests, with the strongest effects visible among immigrants from dic- tatorships and weak democracies.
    [Show full text]
  • Contingent Election of the President and Vice President by Congress: Perspectives and Contemporary Analysis
    Contingent Election of the President and Vice President by Congress: Perspectives and Contemporary Analysis Updated October 6, 2020 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R40504 Contingent Election of the President and Vice President by Congress Summary The 12th Amendment to the Constitution requires that presidential and vice presidential candidates gain “a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed” in order to win election. With a total of 538 electors representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 270 electoral votes is the “magic number,” the arithmetic majority necessary to win the presidency. What would happen if no candidate won a majority of electoral votes? In these circumstances, the 12th Amendment also provides that the House of Representatives would elect the President, and the Senate would elect the Vice President, in a procedure known as “contingent election.” Contingent election has been implemented twice in the nation’s history under the 12th Amendment: first, to elect the President in 1825, and second, the Vice President in 1837. In a contingent election, the House would choose among the three candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each state, regardless of population, casts a single vote for President in a contingent election. Representatives of states with two or more Representatives would therefore need to conduct an internal poll within their state delegation to decide which candidate would receive the state’s single vote. A majority of state votes, 26 or more, is required to elect, and the House must vote “immediately” and “by ballot.” Additional precedents exist from 1825, but they would not be binding on the House in a contemporary election.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Voting Faqs
    HOW DO I RETURN MY EARLY EARLY VOTING FAQS VOTING BALLOT? If voting in person the voter will return the sealed affidavit envelope containing his/her early voting ballot to the election official. WHAT IS EARLY VOTING? WHERE DO I VOTE EARLY? If voting by mail the voter may Early voting is a process by which All eligible voters may vote in return it by mail to the Election CAN I PICK UP AN ABSENTEE a registered voter can vote prior person at any of the designated Commission office in the BALLOT FOR A FAMILY MEMBER to a scheduled biennial state early voting locations or by mail. envelope provided by this office OR FRIEND? election. Voters can vote early by Unlike Election Day voters are not or the voter may deliver the No. The family member or friend mail or in-person and the ballot assigned a voting location. ballot in person to the Election must come in person to the will be cast on Election Day. You can vote at: Election Commission office or to an Election Commission office or Commission Office, Police election official at a designated request to have the ballot mailed Department Community Room, early voting location during to them. Cambridge Water Department, prescribed early voting hours. WHEN WILL THE EARLY VOTING Main Library, or O’Neill Library I REQUESTED AN EARLY VOTING PERIOD BEGIN AND END? IS EARLY VOTING AVAILABLE BALLOT BUT DID NOT RECEIVE Early voting period for the For complete details: FOR ALL ELECTIONS? IT, WHAT SHOULD I DO? State/Presidential Election to cambridgema.gov/earlyvoting No.
    [Show full text]
  • Ballot Casting Assurance
    Ballot Casting Assurance Ben Adida C. Andrew Neff MIT VoteHere Abstract Universal Verifiability. Since the early 1990s, many cryptographic voting protocols have been proposed to We propose that voting protocols be judged in part on provide universal verifiability [11, 6, 1, 9]. In these ballot casting assurance, a property which complements schemes, any observer can verify that only registered universal verifiability. Some protocols already support voters cast ballots and that cast ballots are tallied cor- ballot casting assurance, though the concept has not re- rectly. Universal verifiability uses cryptography to re- ceived adequate explicit emphasis. Ballot casting assur- store the bulletin board of yore. Ballots are encrypted ance captures two well known voting concepts – cast and posted along with the voter’s plaintext identity. Uni- as intended, and recorded as cast – into one end-to-end versal verifiability thus provides a public tally, patching property: Alice, the voter, should obtain immediate and a large portion of the audit-ability hole caused by the se- direct assurance that her intended vote has “made it” into cret ballot. the tally. We review Neff’s scheme, MarkPledge, and show that Ballot Casting Assurance. Universal verifiability it provides ballot casting assurance. We also briefly show does not provide complete audit-ability. In addition to how Chaum’s “Punchscan” system also provides ballot knowing that all votes were correctly tallied, Alice would casting assurance, though under more complicated de- like direct verification that her vote was properly cast and ployment assumptions. We show how ballot casting as- recorded into this tally. We define this principle as ballot surance opens the door to realistic failure detection and casting assurance and argue that it, too, fills an audit- recovery in the middle of an election, a topic which has ability gap left by the secret ballot.
    [Show full text]
  • Goes to the Polls 2020
    AMERICA Goes to the Polls 2020 Policy and Voter Turnout in the 2020 Election AMERICA GOES TO THE POLLS Last updated: 03/18/2021 A report on Voter Turnout and Election Policy in the 50 States for the 2020 Election – March 2021 NONPROFIT VOTE REPORT TEAM: George Pillsbury, Senior Policy Consultant Caroline Mak, Field & Research Coordinator Brian Miller, Executive Director America Goes to the Polls 2020 represents the 7th edition in our biennial series based on the final certified voter turnout collected by the U.S. Elections Project. The report provides the official state rankings in voter turnout and turnout growth compared to the last presidential election in 2016. This ranking provides clear insights into the impact of election policies on state-by-state voter turnout. www.nonprofitvote.org www.electproject.org Nonprofit VOTE partners with America’s nonprofits to help the people they serve participate and vote. We are the leading source of nonpartisan resources to help nonprofits integrate voter engagement into their ongoing activities and services. The U.S. Elections Project, founded and directed by Dr. Michael McDonald at the University of Florida, seeks to provide timely and accurate election statistics, electoral laws, research reports, and other useful information regarding the United States electoral system. In doing so, the project informs the people of the United States on how their electoral system works, how it may be improved, and how they can participate in it. It serves as the official source for national and state turnout rates for biennial national elections. Special thanks to the National Vote at Home Institute team for reviewing our findings for clarity and accuracy.
    [Show full text]
  • Compulsory Voting and Political Participation: Empirical Evidence from Austria
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Gaebler, Stefanie; Potrafke, Niklas; Rösel, Felix Working Paper Compulsory voting and political participation: Empirical evidence from Austria ifo Working Paper, No. 315 Provided in Cooperation with: Ifo Institute – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich Suggested Citation: Gaebler, Stefanie; Potrafke, Niklas; Rösel, Felix (2019) : Compulsory voting and political participation: Empirical evidence from Austria, ifo Working Paper, No. 315, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, Munich This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/213592 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have
    [Show full text]
  • Security Evaluation of ES&S Voting Machines and Election
    Security Evaluation of ES&S Voting Machines and Election Management System Adam Aviv Pavol Cernˇ y´ Sandy Clark Eric Cronin Gaurav Shah Micah Sherr Matt Blaze faviv,cernyp,saender,ecronin,gauravsh,msherr,[email protected] Department of Computer and Information Science University of Pennsylvania Abstract EVEREST was the first major study of ES&S voting sys- tems, despite the system’s popularity (ES&S claims to be This paper summarizes a security analysis of the DRE the world’s largest e-voting systems vendor [1], support- and optical scan voting systems manufactured by Election ing more than 67 million voter registrations with 97,000 Systems and Software (ES&S), as used in Ohio (and many touchscreen voting machines installed in 20 states and other jurisdictions inside and outside the US). We found 30,000 optical ballot readers present in 43 states [4]), and numerous exploitable vulnerabilities in nearly every com- only the second comprehensive study that examined all ponent of the ES&S system. These vulnerabilities enable components – from backend registration systems to fron- attacks that could alter or forge precinct results, install tend ballot casting – of any electronic voting system. In a corrupt firmware, and erase audit records. Our analysis ten week period, our seven-member team was tasked with focused on architectural issues in which the interactions analyzing the nearly 670,000 lines of source code that between various software and hardware modules leads to comprise the ES&S system, encompassing twelve pro- systemic vulnerabilities that do not appear to be easily gramming languages and five hardware platforms1.
    [Show full text]
  • Election 2020 and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Legal Issues in Absentee and All-Mail Voting
    Legal Sidebari Election 2020 and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Legal Issues in Absentee and All-Mail Voting May 15, 2020 As a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there have been concerns about the potential impact on the 2020 federal election cycle. Some states have delayed primary elections, and, in other jurisdictions, officials have moved polling places away from high-risk populations. As the public health crisis continues, new questions are emerging about the safety and accessibility of voting in the remaining federal primaries and the November 3 general election. These concerns are coupled with questions about how to maintain election integrity. As a result, courts across the nation have been considering challenges to key aspects of state election laws. Much of the recent election law litigation relating to COVID-19 has challenged aspects of state laws addressing absentee voting and all-mail voting, also known as vote-by-mail. In this Sidebar, absentee voting generally refers to state laws that permit eligible voters to request and cast ballots by mail without physically going to the polls on Election Day. All-mail voting generally refers to state laws that provide for automatic mailing of ballots to all eligible voters. This Sidebar outlines the legal landscape for state and federal election laws, examines recent challenges to state laws in response to the pandemic, and briefly discusses select legislation introduced in the 116th Congress. Legal Landscape Although presidential and congressional elections have national impact, they are primarily administered according to state laws. The Elections Clause of the U.S.
    [Show full text]