Voting Methods

The voting options available to people vary from state to state. That is why it is imperative that people research their state's options to ensure that they are fully prepared to vote. It would be disheartening for someone to be unable to vote because of a small technicality. Listed below are the different voting options.

Polling Place Voting

A polling place is where voters cast their votes. All states except Oregon and Washington offer polling place voting. This method is considered a traditional voting procedure.

Same-day Registration

Same-day registration allows any qualified resident of a state to register to vote and to cast a ballot at the same time. As of 2021, 20 states and Washington D.C. have implemented same-day registration. 18 of these states and Washington D.C. have Election Day registration which allows voters to register and vote on Election Day. Montana and North Carolina are the two states that make same-day registration possible for part of the early voting period but not for Election Day.

Absentee Voting and Early Voting

Absentee voting and early voting are great for people who aren’t able to vote on Election Day. Absentee voting allows people to vote by mail. Every state provides absentee voting but the rules that allow people to participate vary. 20 states have absentee voting with excuse where you have to give a valid reason why you must vote absentee. Some common excuses are being injured, being on a business trip, or being a student at an out-of-state college or university. 27 states have no-excuse absentee voting where anyone can participate. All states have overseas absentee voting and all but two have military absentee voting.

Early voting permits people to cast ballots in person prior to an election on specified dates. There are 33 states that provide early voting. 13 of these states have in-person absentee voting where a person can cast an absentee ballot in person without needing to provide a reason.

All-mail voting

Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington conduct all-mail elections. In these states, voting is conducted primarily, though not necessarily, through mail. Only Oregon and Washington have completely all-mail voting since there are no polling places in these states.

Provisional Voting

Provisional ballots help ensure that voters are not excluded from the voting process. They are often referred to as challenge ballots or affidavit ballots. An election official offers a voter a provisional ballot instead of a regular ballot when there is uncertainty about the voter’s eligibility. This can be due to the voter’s name not being on the voter roll, an identification document not being available, or other issues.

A provisional ballot is kept separate from other ballots until after the election. A decision is made on whether the voter is eligible to vote and whether the ballot should be counted. A large number of provisional ballots can increase costs for jurisdictions since a board of election officials generally investigates the provisional ballots shortly after the election. Provisional voting is offered in all states except New Hampshire and Minnesota.

References

Adam, T. (2014). States with early voting or no-excuse absentee voting. OLR Research Report.

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2014/rpt/2014-R-0250.htm

Ballotpedia. (n.d.) Early voting. Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/Early_voting

National Conference of State Legislatures. (2020). Provisional ballots. NCSL.

https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/provisional-ballots.aspx

National Conference of State Legislatures. (2021). Same day voter registration. NCSL. https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/same-day-registration.aspx

Usagov. (2021). Absentee and early voting. Usagov.

https://www.usa.gov/absentee-voting