Absentee and Mail Voting Policies

Every state provides options for at least some voters to cast their ballots without having to appear in-person at a polling place. The majority of states allow all voters to request an absentee ballot be sent to them without providing a legal excuse, and a small but growing number of states conduct vote by mail elections, where all eligible voters are sent a mail ballot without having to make a request. The remaining states require voters to provide a legal excuse, such as illness or emergency, in order to vote by absentee ballot. This map shows the full landscape of both absentee and vote by mail policies, while the subsequent maps on this page focus on each policy individually.