Postal voting
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Postal voting is
In an election, postal votes may be available on demand or limited to individuals meeting certain criteria, such as a proven inability to travel to a designated polling place. Most electors are required to apply for a postal vote, although some may receive one by default. In some elections postal voting is the only voting method allowed and is referred to as all-postal voting. With the exception of those elections, postal votes constitute a form of early voting and may be considered an absentee ballot.
Typically, postal votes must be mailed back before the scheduled election day. However, in some jurisdictions return methods may allow for dropping off the ballot in person via secure drop boxes or at voting centers. Postal votes may be processed by hand or scanned and counted electronically. The history of postal voting dates back to the 19th century, and modern-day procedures and availability vary by jurisdiction. Research, focused on the United States and using data from states where postal voting is widely available—California, Oregon and Washington—shows that the availability of postal voting tends to increase voter turnout.[1][2][3]
Electoral laws typically stipulate a series of checks to protect against
All-postal voting
All-postal voting is a form of postal voting in which all electors receive their ballot papers through the post, not just those who requested an absentee ballot. Depending on the country, electors may have to return their ballot papers by post or they may be allowed to deliver them by hand to specified drop-off locations. All-postal voting is used in several states in the United States and in Switzerland, and was used in 2016 in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey as well as in four regions of the United Kingdom in the 2004 European Parliament election.
There is some evidence that all-postal voting leads to higher turnout than in-person voting or mail-in voting that requires voters to first request a ballot (rather than receive it automatically).[5]
By country
Australia
At the 2016 Australian federal election, there were 1.2 million postal votes cast, amounting to 8.5 percent of total votes.[6]
Postal voting in Australia was introduced for federal elections in 1902, and first used at the 1903 election. It was abolished by the Fisher government in 1910, following claims that it was open to abuse and biased towards rural voters. The Cook government's bill to restore postal voting was one of the "triggers" for the double dissolution prior to the 1914 election. Postal voting was eventually restored by the Hughes government in 1918 and has not been challenged since, although the provisions and requirements have been amended on a number of occasions.[7]
Prior to
Procedure
Postal voting at a federal level is governed by the
Eligible voters may make a postal vote application (PVA) prior to each election, or apply for status as a "general postal voter" and receive a postal ballot automatically. Postal voters receive their ballot(s) and a prepaid envelope containing their name and address, as well as a predetermined security question from the PVA. Voters are required to sign the envelope and provide the correct answer to the security question. They are also required to have a witness sign and date the envelope.[10] As of 2016, postal votes were able to be received and entered into the count up to 13 days after election day. Following the 2016 election, it was observed that the strict scrutiny process afforded to postal votes was a "significant contributor" to delays in declaring the results of close elections.[6]
Austria
Austria enabled postal voting in 2007 by amending Article 26 of the Constitution of Austria. Electors request an electoral card that can be completed in person or in private and sent via post. In the 2017 election, roughly 780,000 postal ballots were cast representing 15% of all ballots.[11] In 2019, this number has increased to 1,070,000.[12]
Canada
The ability to vote when in-person voting is not possible was first introduced with the federal Military Voters Act in 1917, giving all Canadian soldiers and their spouses the right to vote. Public servants became eligible in 1970. The right was further extended to civilian support personnel on Canadian Forces bases in the 1977. In 1993, Bill C-114 extended the special ballot vote (Special Voting Rules) by mail to all Canadian citizens.[13]
Use of special voting rules, including mail voting, has grown with each election. In the 42nd general election (2015), the number of voters increased by 117 percent over the previous election to roughly 619,000.[14] This number grew to roughly 660,000 in the 43rd election (2019) representing 3.6 percent of electors.[15]
Finland
Finland introduced vote by post in 2019 for eligible voters living permanently abroad and eligible voters staying abroad at the time of the elections.[16]
France
Postal voting existed in France until 1975, when it was banned (except in very limited circumstances) due to fears of voter fraud.[17] The highly publicized use of widespread postal voting in the 2020 United States presidential election has reignited debate in France about the use of postal voting, but no consensus or concrete plans exist for reintroducing it.
Germany
Postal voting is common in Germany, with 47% of the electorate voting by post in the 2021 general election.[18] Absentee voting has existed in Germany since 1957, originally in order to ensure that all German citizens, especially the old, sick, and disabled, and citizens living abroad, have the opportunity to participate in elections. At first, postal voters had to state why they could not cast their vote in person on Election Day; but this requirement was dropped in 2008, allowing everyone to use postal voting. Like in many other countries, in more recent years voting by mail has become increasingly popular among younger and non-disabled citizens residing within the country; as such, various tools Archived 2021-03-10 at the Wayback Machine are being developed to help citizens, both domestic and abroad, more easily apply for postal voting.[citation needed]
Greece
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that postal voting will be used in the European Parliament Elections on June 9, 2024. He also said that the adoption of this option in European Parliament elections serves as a precursor to its implementation in national elections, which will be held in 2027[19]
Hungary
Hungarian citizens living abroad who do not have an official address in Hungary are allowed to vote by mail.[20] They are only allowed to vote for party lists, but not for local representatives.[21] In the last parliamentary election in 2018, 267,233 votes (4.6% of all votes) were submitted via mail. 48% of all valid postal votes were submitted from Romania.[22][23]
India
Postal voting in India is done only through the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot Papers (ETPB) system of
Indonesia
Eligible Indonesians living abroad are able to vote by mail in national elections by registering at the Indonesian overseas election commission in their country of residence. Beside presidential elections, they are also able to vote in
Italy
Since 2001 Italian citizens living abroad have the right to vote by mail in all referendums and national elections being held in Italy (provided they had registered their residence abroad with their relevant consulate).
Malaysia
In
Mexico
In Mexico, since the 2006 federal elections, postal voting for people living abroad has been permitted. A request can be made to the
Norway
Postal voting is accepted for voters who are staying abroad and are not close to a foreign station or other voting place. Voters can request ballots to be sent to them. Voters are also allowed to write their own ballots.[33]
Philippines
Mail-in ballots are an option for
Singapore
Spain
In Spain, for European, regional and municipal elections, voters who will be absent from their town on election day or are ill or disabled, may request a postal vote at a post office. The application must be submitted personally or through a representative in case of illness or disability certified by a medical certificate.
Switzerland
Swiss federal law allows postal voting in all federal elections and referendums,[35] and all cantons also allow it for cantonal ballot issues. All voters receive their personal ballot by mail and may either cast it at a polling station or mail it back. As of 2019, approximately 90% of Swiss voters cast ballots using Remote Postal Voting.[36]
United Kingdom
Absentee voting in the United Kingdom is allowed by proxy or post (known as postal voting on demand) for any elector. Postal voting does not require a reason,[37] apart from in Northern Ireland, where postal voting is available only if it would be unreasonable to expect a voter to go to a polling station on polling day as a result of employment, disability or education restrictions. Postal voting is common in the United Kingdom, 8.4 million postal votes were issued, 18% of the UK electorate (18.2% England, 19.4% Scotland, 19.4% Wales and 1.9% N.Ireland) in the 2017 general election.[38]
Proxy voting is allowed for people who will be away, working, or medically disabled,[39] anyone eligible to vote in the election may be a proxy for close relatives and two unrelated people.[40] The proxy voter for an elector can also be a postal voter, known as Postal Proxy voting.[41] If a person becomes unable to vote in person within 6 days of an election, including up to 5pm on the polling day, they can apply for another person to vote on their behalf as an emergency proxy.[42]
Postal voting in the UK has been (allegedly)[
United States
In the United States, postal voting (commonly referred to as mail-in voting, vote-by-mail or vote from home[48]) is a process in which a ballot is mailed to the home of a registered voter, who fills it out and returns it via postal mail or by dropping it off in-person at a voting center or into a secure drop box. Deadlines are set under state law, with some states requiring ballots be received by election day and others allowing ballots to be received after election day so long as they are postmarked by election day.[49] Vote-by-mail is available in both Republican and Democratic states,[2] with research showing that the availability of postal voting increases voter turnout.[5][2][1] Five states—Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington—hold elections almost entirely by mail.[50]
It has been argued that postal voting has a greater risk of fraud than in-person voting, though there are few known instances of such fraud.[51] Mail-in ballots pose other challenges, including signature verification,[52] prompt delivery of ballots,[53] and issues that have led to evidence suggesting younger voters, as well as voters from racial and ethnic minorities, are more likely to have their vote-by-mail ballots rejected.[54]
In the
In April 2020, during lockdowns for the
Following
See also
References
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External links
- Vox article on the spread of Vote-by-mail in the US – May 2018
- No Vote By Mail, Problems with Absentee, Postal, and Vote-by-mail systems
- "Vote-by-Mail: The Real Winner Is Democracy," by Bill Bradbury, Washington Post, December 31, 2004
- "Voting Alone," by Nick Arvin, New York Times, November 8, 2008
- Research about postal voting and electoral practices