Posted September 8, 2020 | by KimS | in 2020Presidential, DemDaily

DemDaily: The Status of Voting in Your State

September 8, 2020

The voting process for the presidential election, now just 56 days away, has begun!

Last Friday, North Carolina became the first state to mail out absentee ballots, two months prior to Election Day.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 20 states have temporarily or permanently changed their early vote or absentee voting rules in the interest of public safety.

Currently, 38 states and the District of Columbia permit no-excuse early voting in some form and all states allow for some form of absentee or mail-in balloting. However, some still require voters to provide a valid excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day -- even during the pandemic.

In addition to the traditional absentee voting, four-fifths of the states provide early voting in which a qualified voters may cast their ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election.

North Carolina has logged more than 643,000 absentee ballot requests, compared to 39,000 at this time in 2016

In the unprecedented environment of voting during the age of the coronavirus pandemic, it is anticipated that at least half the electorate will vote by mail or early in person, a process that has come under fire by President Trump as "fraught with fraud and abuse."

Trump's claims are rooted in unfounded claims that historically mail-in voting favors Democrats, but controversy surrounding delayed or undelivered ballots during the primaries, and now alleged suppression of mail-in balloting under Trump's new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, has spurred massive efforts by Democrats to encourage early voting.

According to a recent NBC/Survey Monkey survey, 52% of all Voters plan to vote early, including 33% by mail and 19% early in person. When broken down by party, however, 54% of Republicans say they plan to vote in person and 39% early by mail or in person. By contrast, only 22% of Democrats say they plan to vote in person, with 71% planning to vote early by mail or in person.

For our followers, the status of the early voting options in each state. As always, DemList will keep you informed on all updates and developments!

At present, nine states and Washington, DC automatically send ballots to voters and ten states automatically send voters an absentee ballot application.

Five states - Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington - conduct "all-mail elections," which are conducted primarily by mail.