voteathomedev, Author at National Vote at Home Institute

Value of Ballots in Hand

As campaigns nationwide, from local to presidential, consider whether it’s worth getting mailed-out ballots into the hands of voters, the National Vote at Home Institute(NVAHI) has an answer: YES. Voting at home via mailed-out ballots significantly increases voter turnout.

This white paper provides the what, the why, the where, and the who: the increased level of turnout that voting at home provides, comprehensive details on which states and voters are the best targets for outreach efforts, and the potential increase in turnout that mailed-out ballots deliver.

Success of Mailed-out Ballot Access Policies Nationwide

Much was written about the success of temporary policies states put in place for mailed-out ballot access during the 2020 election due to the pandemic. The resulting use of those ballots and the percentage of the popular vote they represented (about 47%) was indeed stunning. But a largely untold story is how rapidly voters across the country have had their access to mailed-out ballots improved on a permanent policy basis. The result was in the 2022 midterms about 32% of all ballots cast came from those voters received in the mail, up from about 21% in 2018.

“Early Vote by Mail Act” to Enable New Yorkers to Use Mail-In Ballots for Early Voting

Norwood News — The New York State Assembly joined the Senate late last week and passed new legislation to expand early mail voting, authorizing voters to obtain early mail voting ballots through application to the board of elections, plus more mail-voting centered reform to increase access to mailed-out ballots. The legislation is now before Governor Kathy Hochul for approval.

New York’s legislation is modeled after Pennsylvania law, passed in 2019, and is expected to have similar impact in the use of mailed-out ballots. Pennsylvania saw voting at home increase from 4% in 2018 – the same rate as New York that year – to 20% in 2022.

The National Vote at Home Institute is proud to have been a member of the coalition that advocated for this policy change, and looks forward to supporting its successful implementation for the voters of New York.

Republicans Are Dead Set Against Early Voting (Unless It Helps Them)

Intelligencer — States with predominantly vote at home systems have elected secretaries of state and other officials who are Republicans and big fans of this process. Identifying mail voting solely with Democrats is also off, the National Vote at Home Institute observes.

Oregon Leads Nation in Voter Turnout Rates

Oregon Public Radio — Oregon currently has the highest rates of voter turnout in the entire country. Two factors political scientists point to are the state’s vote by mail system and the “motor voter” law that automatically registers people to vote when they get their driver’s license. We talk with former Oregon Secretary of State and vote-by-mail advocate Phil Keisling about the numbers and what they mean.

Senate Approves Constitutional Amendment for No-Excuse Absentee Voting

Hartford Courant — In a move to follow 35 other states, Connecticut senators voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night for a constitutional amendment to allow absentee voting for any reason in all elections.

After debating for about 90 minutes, the Senate voted 26-8 on a bipartisan basis as three Republicans joined with 23 Democrats in favor of the resolution. All eight negative votes were by Republicans.

The resolution will allow voters to vote with any excuse to obtain an absentee ballot.

Vote at Home: How does Nebraska stack up?

Civic Nebraska — For decades, mail voting has been a safe, easy, and convenient way for Nebraskans to cast their ballots. Any Nebraska voter can request an absentee ballot for any reason, while 11 rural counties employ all-vote-by-mail. Mix in a once-in-a-century pandemic in 2020 that provided many voters their first vote-by-mail experience, and it’s easy to see why nearly 40 percent of Nebraskans opted to vote by mail in 2022.

Simply put, mail voting has been good for democracy by driving higher participation in our elections. You may ask: How does Nebraska compare to its sister states? According to an analysis by the National Vote At Home Institute, Nebraska’s rules, processes, and systems put our state near the middle of the pack.

Best Practices: Path to Single Sign-up and No Excuse Voting

Committee Endorses Allowing Maine Voters to sign up for Single Sign-up

Maine Public — A legislative committee has advanced a bill that would allow voters to automatically receive absentee ballots.

Beginning this year, Maine voters who are disabled or at least 65 years old can request that town clerks automatically mail absentee ballots to them for every statewide and municipal election. Some lawmakers now want to make that same option available to all voters.

The bill, LD 1690, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Mattie Daughtry of Brunswick, has the support of Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who pointed out that five other states already allow “ongoing absentee balloting.”