In addition to returning absentee or mail ballots through the postal service, many states offer voters the option of returning their ballot to a secure drop box provided by election authorities. States take a variety of policy approaches to ballot drop boxes, with some states requiring they be accessible statewide, while other states limit, restrict, or even ban the option.
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Drop boxes required or allowed statewide and broadly accessible
(29 states)
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Drop boxes required or allowed statewide but limited or restricted
(5 states)
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State has no applicable law or policy and drop boxes are not used
(5 states + D.C.)
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State bans drop boxes
(11 states)
Recommended citation:
Movement Advancement Project. "Ballot Drop Box Policies & Availability." https://www.mapresearch.org/democracy-maps/drop_box_policies. Accessed 12/22/2024.
Breakdown by Population
*Note: These percentages reflect the voting-eligible population, as reported by the United States Election Project.
56 % of voting-eligible population lives in states where drop boxes required or allowed statewide and broadly accessible
17 % of voting-eligible population lives in states where drop boxes required or allowed statewide but limited or restricted
4 % of voting-eligible population lives in states that have no applicable law or policy and drop boxes are not used
23 % of voting-eligible population lives in states that ban drop boxes
