Get the Facts on Voting By Mail

Voting by mail is safe, secure, and easy to do. With the increased popularity of vote-by-mail in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, use the following messages to counter attacks on vote-by-mail and pivot the conversation to solutions.

  • All states administer at least part of their elections by mail through the absentee voting process.

  • All states have systems in place to deter and detect irregularities or violations in the voting process, both by mail and in person.

  • Studies have shown that vote-by-mail does not favor one party over another.

  • There is no record of massive or serious election manipulation via mail-in voting. Listen to this report from Fox News anchor Chris Wallace.

  • With an expected increase in vote-by-mail in 2020, now is the time for election officials to make the investments in ballot access and protect the integrity of our elections. Two-thirds of the Wisconsin election in April was by-mail (absentee) with no reports of significant irregularities in voter behavior.  Almost 89% of the requested absentee ballots were returned and counted.

  • 46% of ballots in the June Georgia Presidential Primary were cast by mail

  • Like all voting systems vote-by-mail benefits from audits, including risk-limiting audits, which allow election officials to double-check the vote count, identify irregularities that need to be resolved, and issue strict penalties for interfering with or manipulating the process.

References/Resources

  • “The truth about vote-by-mail and fraud”, William Brangham and Meredith Lee, PBS News Hour, 6/9/20 - PBS “News Hour”/NPR/Marist Poll found that just over half of voters said they would vote by mail in November if given the option. (June 9, 2020

  • “Why we need to fight for the United States Postal Service”, Priya Pandey, LWV, 6/4/20 - This LWV post explains why the USPS is a critical piece of infrastructure helping many navigate daily life and why we need to fight for them. It's weathered many challenging times and continues to provide relief on the front lines of the current global pandemic.

  • “Walz job approval and voting by mail”, Minneapolis StarTribue, 5/26/20 - A Minneapolis Star-Tribune/MPR News/KARE-11 poll of 800 Minnesota registered voters found that 59% of those surveyed supported changing election laws to allow every registered voter in Minnesota to automatically receive a ballot by mail for the November elections during the coronavirus pandemic. The linked Star-Tribune article provides a breakdown by age, gender, region and party preference. 

  • “Republican Leader:  My state shows why voting by mail is secure and trustworthy”, Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman (R), USA Today, 5/15/20 - Secretary Wyman states that Vote by Mail in Washington is secure and trustworthy and says that “My hope is that Washington’s experience running mail-in elections will help other states reassure those who question whether the process is safe.”

  • “How Protecting Voter Safety With Mail-In Ballots Became A Partisan Issue (And Why It Shouldn't Be)”, NPR “Fresh Air”, 5/11/20 - NPR host Terri Gross speaks with journalist Emily Bazelon about the experience in the U.S. with voting by mail and potential challenges with voting in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • “America needs vote-by-mail in November. Here's why both parties can embrace it” (Opinion); Bruce Bond and Erik Olsen (co-founders of Common Ground Committee, a citizen-led initiative focused on demonstrating productive public discourse), 5/12/2020.

  • "GOP Leaders Get Vote-by-Mail All Wrong", Michael Steele opinion, National Review, 5/29/20

  • "Republicans have insufficient evidence to call elections ‘rigged’ and ‘fraudulent", Ben Ginsberg opinion, Washington Post, September 8, 2020 - Mr. Ginsberg is a veteran Republican election attorney. This opinion discusses the lack of evidence of wide-spread voter fraud and the dangers of unfounded claims of election security issues. He co-chaired the 2013 Presidential Commission on Election Administration; has represented the Republican National Committee and been part of multiple Republican Presidential campaigns.

  • "Vote by Mail, Just This Once", Mona Charen, National Review, 4/16/20; 

  • "How to Hold Elections during a Pandemic", Rachel Kleinfeld and Joshua Kleinfeld, National Review, 4/7/20 - The article includes discussion that mail-in voting in Colorado and Utah found that turnout increased by about 2 percent, but neither party got a boost.  (Joshua Kleinfeld is a law professor at Northwestern University and winner of the Federalist Society’s Bator Award. Rachel Kleinfeld is a senior fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance program at the Carnegie Endowment and a member of the bipartisan National Task Force on Election Crisis. They are brother and sister.)

  • "How to Save the November Election", Rachel Kleinfeld and Joshua Kleinfeld, National Review, 5/21/20 - Describes "Eight steps to massively expand absentee voting and ensure safe methods by which to vote in person"

  • "Vote-by-mail is safe, says Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, countering Trump", The Columbus Dispatch, 4/14/20 - Per Secretary LaRose "As I’ve said, we’re fortunate that we’ve been doing vote by mail for a long time. We know how to do it, and we know how to get it done securely. "

  • “Debunking the absentee / vote by mail fraud and abuse argument”, National Vote from Home Coalition - This study by the National Vote At Home Coalition found that out of 100 million votes cast in Oregon since mail-in voting was adopted in 2000, there were only twelve cases of fraud.

  • “Gov. Tim Walz considers 'next steps' to increase mail-in voting”, Stephen Montemayor, Minneapolis StarTribune, 5/14/20;

  • “Ignoring Trump and Right-Wing Think Tanks, Red States Expand Vote by Mail”, Jessica Huseman and Mike Spies, Electionland (ProPublica), 5/12/20 - The Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups warn, with little evidence, that voting by mail fosters fraud. But some Republican secretaries of state reject those concerns and see no alternative to absentee voting if the pandemic persists.

  • “There Is No Evidence That Voting By Mail Gives One Party An Advantage; Could that change this fall?”, Lee Drutman, fivethirtyeight.com, 5/12/20

  • “GOP group releases ad advocating for voting by mail amid coronavirus pandemic”, Rebecca Klar, The Hill, 5/7/20 - Voters from both parties agree: expanded absentee voting options can help people vote safely this year. It's a nonpartisan issue. With proper preparation, we can have safe, secure and accessible elections this year.

  • “Vote-by-mail debate raises fears of election disinformation”, Eric Tucker and Amanda Seitz, AP, 5/5/20 - The debate over vote-by-mail is "provoking online disinformation and conspiracy theories that could undermine trust in the results, even if there are no major problems."

  • “We are Republicans and Democrats. Vote By Mail Is Essential to Protect Voters—and Democracy Itself” (Opinion), Jena Griswold, Kim Wyman and Joshua Silver, Newsweek, 5/5/20 - Jena Griswold (D) is the Colorado Secretary of State. Kim Wyman (R) is the Secretary of State of Washington. Joshua Silver is Director and Co-founder at RepresentUs. Together they state why they believe that voting by mail is a safe, secure, and efficient method of conducting elections.  They believe vote by mail is not a partisan issue and that they all want our elections to be fair and to accurately represent the will of the people.

  • “Will Americans Lose Their Right to Vote in the Pandemic?”, Emily Bazelon, NY Times, 5/5/20 - The article describes how a coalition of more than 200 public-interest groups [including LWV] are pushing hard for Congress to include $3.6 billion for the 2020 election cycle in the next coronavirus relief bill. They also want all states to offer online and same-day voter registration and to extend in-person early voting to avoid crowding on Election Day.

  • “Let's put the vote-by-mail 'fraud' myth to rest” (Opinion), Amber McReynolds and Dr. Charles Stewart III, The Hill, 4/28/20 - This article uses data from the Heritage Foundation database on election fraud to illustrate how rare election fraud actually is.  The data shows that over a 20 year period (2000 – 2020) there have been just over 1,200 cases of vote fraud of all forms, resulting in 1,100 criminal convictions, over the past 20 years. Of these, 204 involved the fraudulent use of absentee ballots; 143 resulted in criminal convictions. The overall rate of mail-ballot related fraud was 0.00006 percent of the votes cast. Ms. McReynolds is the CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute. She formerly was the director of elections for Denver, where she helped to design and implement Colorado’s vote-at-home system. Dr. Charles Stewart III is the Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science at MIT, the director of the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, and co-director of the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project.

  • “New Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Support Voting By Mail Amid Pandemic”, Miles Parks, NPR, 4/28/20 - Americans are extremely concerned the coronavirus crisis will disrupt voting in November's presidential election, a new Pew Research poll finds — and almost 3 out of 4 Americans favor universal access to mail voting. They also overwhelmingly support allowing everyone to vote by mail, even as partisan divides over mail voting expansions have taken hold at the national level over the past few months.

  • “As Trump rails against mail voting, some allies embrace it”, Nicholas Riccardi, AP, 4/10/20 - While President Donald Trump claims (without evidence) that expanding mail-in voting will increase voter fraud, several GOP state officials are forging ahead to do just that, undermining one of Trump’s arguments about how elections should be conducted amid the coronavirus outbreak.

  • “Vote-by-Mail: What States Are Doing, What States Should Be Doing”, Humphrey School of Public Affairs webinar featuring Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Tammy Patrick (former Commissioner on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and Senior Advisor, Elections at Democracy Fund), Matthew Weil (Director of the Elections Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center), and Wendy Underhill (Director for Elections and Redistricting, National Conference of State Legislatures), University of Minnesota Humphrey School for Public Affairs Center Certificate for Election Administration Program, 5/28/2020

  • “Scaling Vote at Home Processes for Safe & Secure Elections”, Amber McReynolds, CEO National Vote at Home Institute, and Doug Chapin, University of Minnesota Humphrey School for Public Affairs Center Certificate for Election Administration Program, 5/5/2020 - Amber McReyolds, formerly Elections Director for Denver, CO, discusses the steps states can take to establish vote at home processes that ensure safe and secure elections based on her experience implemented Vote by Mail in Colorado.

LWV Minnesota