The hallmark of a vote-at-home elections system is the automatic delivery of ballots without voters needing to apply or submit a request. Numerous studies show that voters with ballots in hand vote at materially higher levels than those who have to visit a physical polling location. Ensuring they can obtain a mailed ballot without needing to worry about making a deadline or ensuring they filled out a form properly eliminates unnecessary hurdles for voters and gives them a greater opportunity to vote their ballot.
Coupling this practice with providing voters postage-paid return envelopes and ballot tracking options further removes obstacles for voters and gives them confidence their mail ballot will be counted.
Why It's Important
- Enfranchises voters. Eliminating application requirements and simply sending all voters their ballots helps ensure the enfranchisement of more voters because they don’t need to worry about submitting an application in time. They can have confidence that their ballot will arrive to them several weeks before election day, giving them time to fill out their ballot at home and return it using a wide range of options.
- Boosts turnout. Numerous studies have shown that when voters have easy access to mailed-out ballots, they vote, often at greater levels than their polling-place counterparts.
- Increases access. Finding time to get to the polls isn’t always easy. With vote at home, democracy is delivered to your doorstep, without you ever having to make a request or visit a physical location if you don’t want to.
Relevant Research
Example Statutes
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