Most States offer at least One method for any Eligible Voter to cast a Ballot before Election Day. While some States provide Early In-Person voting, this post will addresses Absentee Voting and All-Mail Voting.

Absentee Voting: All States will Mail an Absentee Ballot to certain Voters who Request One. In Two-Thirds of the States, any Qualified Voter may Vote Absentee without offering an Excuse, and in One-Third of the States, an Excuse is Required. Some States offer a Permanent Absentee Ballot List. Once a Voter Asks to be Added to the List, they will Automatically receive an Absentee Ballot for All Future Elections.

All-Mail Voting: In a Handful of States, and more during the Pandemic, a Ballot is Automatically Mailed to every Eligible Voter, No Request or Application is Necessary. Polling Places may also be available for Voters who would like to Vote In-Person. Other States may Permit the All-Mail Option for Specific Types of Elections.

A Ballot that has been sent to a Voter and is Voted outside of a Polling Place or Election Official’s Office has traditionally been referred to as an “Absentee Ballot” and the Person who Votes that Ballot has been called an “absentee voter.” This Terminology is Common in State Law and comes from the Concept that Voters would use this Option only when they were “Absent” from their Neighborhood Polling Place on Election Day.

As time has gone on and more and more Voters Request a Ballot in Advance as their Default Voting method, and as States have begun offering more Opportunities for Voters to do so, the Terminology has evolved. Some States refer to “advance ballots,” “mailed ballots,” “by-mail ballots,” “mail ballots” or “vote-by-mail ballots.”

These Term refers to Ballots that are Mailed-Out to Voters by Election Officials and does Not indicate the Method Voters choose to Return the Ballot. Often these “absentee/mailed ballots” are Returned via methods other than Mail, i.e. In-Person at a Voting Location or Election Office, or at a Secure Drop Box.

Tracking Your Mailed Ballot

In 2018, the Postal Service™ developed Customized Service Type Identifiers (STIDs) specifically for Ballots to Improve Ballot Mail visibility. These STIDs have proven instrumental in Identifying and Tracking Ballots On-Hand and in the Mail-Stream. In addition, STIDs have increased the Visibility of Outbound and Return Election Mail within the Automation Environment. This has helped elevate the Public's Confidence in the Vote-By-Mail Process.

STID Processing leverages Intelligent Mail® barcode (IMb®) Scan Data that is available via Informed Visibility® (IV®) Reports.

Green Tag 191 - Tag 191, Domestic and International Ballots, is a Green Container Tag used by Election Officials to Identify Trays and Sacks of Ballot Mail destined for either Domestic or International Addresses. Tag 191 can be ordered Online and Mailed directly to Local Election Offices.

Military Personnel with APO/FPO Addresses can now Return Absentee/Mailed Ballots via Priority Mail Express® using Label 11-DOD. “Waiver of Signature” and “Guaranteed by End of Day” Endorsements are Printed on the Label, so Ballots sent with it are Delivered on the Day they Arrive at the Destination Post Office. The Military Postal Service™ Distributes the Labels Overseas and Covers the Postage. The Priority Mail Express Ballot Label is Only for Absentee Ballots from Military Post Offices Overseas. The Label may be used on any Size Ballot Envelope. It always goes in the Upper-Right Corner. Voter can keep Part of the Tracking Label and use the Tracking Number to Track their Ballots.

A handful of States including: California, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Virginia already have set up State Technology to Track the Absentee Ballots of Domestic Voters.

Processing, Verifying, and Counting Absentee Ballots

Unlike the traditional experience of Voting at a Physical Polling Place under the Supervision of Election Officials or Volunteer Election Workers, Marking an Absentee/Mailed Ballot occurs in an Unsupervised Environment, usually at the Voter’s Home. Because the Voter does Not appear In-Person, Election Officials use other ways of Verifying that the Absentee/Mailed Ballot they are receiving comes from the intended Eligible Voter.

The most Common Method to Verify that Absentee/Mailed Ballots are coming from the Intended Voter is to Conduct Signature Verification. When Voters Return an Absentee/Mailed Ballot, they must Sign an Affidavit on the Ballot Envelope. When the Ballot is Returned to the Election Office, Election Officials have a Process for Examining Each and Every Signature and Comparing it to other Documents in their Files that contain the Voter Signature, usually the Voter Registration Record.

If a Discrepancy is found, there may be an Opportunity for the Voter to Come into the Election Office and “cure” the Discrepancy. The Election Official should Contact the Voter explaining the Problem and asking them to Verify their Information and that that they did in fact Cast the Ballot. There is usually a Period of Time after the Election available for Voters to take this Verification Step, but if the Voter doesn’t do this then the Ballot isn’t Counted. Some States have other Methods for Verifying Absentee/Mailed Ballots. They may require Absentee/by Mail Voters to include Photocopies of their Identification Documents or have the Absentee/Mailed Ballot Envelope Signed by Witnesses or Notarized.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker