NBC Illinois – Elections officials are sending applications for permanent permission to vote by mail to each of the state’s 8 million registered voters. No one is obligated to sign up. But for as long as they stay at the same address, those who do will receive ballots they can complete at home and put in the mail for all future elections.

Washington Monthly – It is increasingly clear that vote by mail boosts election participation and that whichever party does the most to convince its voters to utilize mail ballots will have an edge in November.

Washington City Paper – D.C.’s decision to mail ballots to every eligible voter helped boost participation in wards 7 and 8. And that’s no small thing, considering that politicians have been puzzling over how to reach more people in the city’s poorest, most underserved neighborhoods basically ever since the mayor-for-life finished his last term in office.

PBS NewsHour – A wide expansion of mail-in voting in Pennsylvania survived a legal challenge on Tuesday before the state Supreme Court in a case brought by some of the same Republican state representatives who voted for the legislation nearly three years ago.

NECN – A new state law in Vermont means voters can get a second chance to ensure their ballot is counted if they made certain mistakes in filling them out in early voting.