No-excuse permanent absentee voting is allowed in 3 states. Early voting in person is allowed with no excuse required in 31 U.S. states, with an excuse in 3, and not at all in 16. The District of Columbia requires an excuse for both early voting and absentee voting.
Almost 16 percent of votes cast in the 2010 general election were absentee ballots and nearly 5 percent more were mail ballots, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s Election Administration and Voting Survey. In 1972, less than 5 percent of American voters used absentee ballots, according to census data.
States transmitted nearly 33.1 million domestic absentee ballots and 83.5% were returned and submitted for counting. So what happened to the remaining 16.5% that weren't returned? We can only guess. But we do know that it costs money to return a ballot. It's not unusual that the cost of returning a ballot can easily be 70 cents. Many voters don't know the cost of postage over one ounce so they double the postage, to be "safe", or 98 cents. And usually the postage cost to return the ballot is not divulged on the ballot, leaving the voter to guess whether the ballot is heavier than one ounce. This is a real issue for people on fixed incomes, low incomes and the poor who have the same right to vote as anybody else. Voting should be free. There should be no cost for exercising your constitutional right to vote across the board no matter what your economic situation is.
So why do low income people, and people in various categories, such as the aged, infirm and those with disabilities need to pay to return their vote?
Voting is a veritable hodge-podge in all 50 states.. Why? Why does it need to be this way? Why do some states make it so difficult to vote and others easy? Is there something sinister behind this process in some jurisdictions? Is there an effort to disenfranchise certain groups of voters? What's with the long voting lines, voter harassment, and voter ID laws? Voter ID laws disproportionately disenfranchise the elderly, the poor, non-drivers, and students -- these are people that don't typically vote Republican. Voting is a right, not a privilege! The cost of voter restriction laws to our democracy is great. But who cares? That's the real question. Where is the concern? And, it is a national embarrassment that more than 150,000 veterans living in U.S. territories will be denied the right to vote for their Commander-in-Chief next November.
A change that simultaneously increases voter participation, saves millions of dollars and makes the postal service relevant again would seem to be what public finances and America’s civic health need. But when it comes to voting by mail, even with a decade-long track record, states seem to be saying "they aren't interested".
In Montana, there was an attempt to save $2 million every election cycle by eliminating polling places and poll workers -- while also enhancing voter protection and participation. However, a flurry of last-minute calls from constituents expressing to legislators their concerns about "security" could not be overcome.