How to vote by mail in U.S. elections

In the United States, voting by mail and absentee voting are allowed. In both cases, registered voters receive a ballot, fill it in, and send it back to electoral authorities. In this article, we’ll tell you why there’s not just one day to vote.

Here are the steps for voting by mail.

1. How to register to vote

In the United States, in order to be eligible to vote you need to be a U.S. citizen, 18 years old or more, resident of the state in which you want to vote, and be registered to vote before the deadline for voting. Here some ways to be compliant with the latter:

• Download the National Voter Registration Application Form, fill it in and then send it back by mail or take it personally to local electoral offices.

• Register in one of the following places:

  •  Department of Motor Vehicles

  • The Army recruitment centers

  • Other state agencies, like centers for distribution of food stamps

• For more information, visit this website in Spanish.

Caption: National Voter Registration Application Form

2. How to request a ballot to vote by mail

While the vote-by-mail and the absentee voting refer to the same process, there are some differences, depending on the state, when it comes to requesting the ballot.

• Vote-by-mail: In this process, all registered voters of the state receive a ballot, without requesting it. In the states where this process is applied, ballot boxes remain open during election day for those who can’t participate through vote-by-mail.

• Absentee voting: In this process, registered voters must request a ballot and provide a reason why they can’t vote in person, like health issues, traveling or studying. However, most of the states don’t ask for a reason for a voter to choose absentee voting.

In the states where it’s needed to request ballots, the deadline to do it varies, as well as the deadline for changing the address to send the ballots to all registered voters. The deadline for voting is normally a few days before Election Day.

For more information on specific requirements of your state, visit this website.

3. How to send back the ballot

Once you fill in the ballot, all states allow you to send it back through the postal service or commercial postal services. Also, you can take it personally to local electoral offices or specific places. For more information on requirements of your state, visit this website in Spanish.

If the ballot is sent back through the United States Postal Service (USPS), you can hand it in to the mailman, take it to the USPS office or deposit it in one of the blue mailboxes that belong to this company. The USPS recommends using the official envelopes that have the electoral office logo and the barcode. Some states provide this envelope and some others, don’t. You can read the full list of states that do and don’t by clicking here.

Caption: envelope with official USPS stamp from elections in the state of California

Here some key dates to consider when sending back the ballot:

• Sending back the ballot: usually, the deadline for sending back the ballots, either by mail or personally, is on Election Day, before the ballot boxes close. Ballots delivered in person after Election Day are not accepted in any state. For more information, visit this website.

• Sending back the ballot after Election Day: there are 30 states in which ballots sent by mail are required to be sent either on Election Day or before. However, there are 19 states in which ballots sent by mail are accepted after Election Day, but they must have postmarks with the date of the Election Day or before. For more information, visit this website.

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