In mostly-mail elections, all registered voters are sent a ballot in the mail. The voter marks the ballot, puts it in a secrecy envelope or sleeve and then into a separate mailing envelope, signs an affidavit on the exterior of the mailing envelope and returns the package via mail or by dropping it off.
Ballots are mailed out well ahead of Election Day, and thus voters have an “election period,” not just a single day, to vote. Mostly-mail elections can be thought of as absentee voting for everyone. This system is also referred to as “vote by mail.”
- Eight states—California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington and the District of Columbia—allow all elections to be conducted entirely by mail.
- Two states—Nebraska and North Dakota—permit counties to opt into conducting elections by mail.
- Nine states—Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming—allow specific small elections to be conducted by mail.
- Four states—Idaho, Minnesota, New Jersey and New Mexico—permit mostly-mail elections for certain small jurisdictions.
The four tables below show which states allow which types of mostly-mail elections.
Table 18a: States That Conduct All Elections by Mail
| State |
Statute |
Year Enacted |
Year Implemented |
Bill Number |
| California |
Cal. Election Code § 3000.5
|
2021 |
2022 |
AB 37 |
| Colorado |
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 1-5-401
|
2013 |
2014 |
HB 1303 |
| District of Columbia |
D.C. Code § 1–1001.05
|
2022 |
2023 |
D.C. Law 24-342 |
| Hawaii |
Hawaii Rev. Stat. § 11-101
|
2019 |
2020 |
HB 1248 |
| Nevada |
Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.269911
|
2021 |
2022 |
AB 321 |
| Oregon |
Or. Rev. Stat. § 254.465
|
1998 |
2000 |
Citizen initiative |
| Utah |
Utah Code Ann. § 20A-3a-202
|
2012 (Counties permitted to choose.) |
2019 (The first year all counties opted for mostly-mail elections.) |
HB 172 |
| Vermont |
Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2537a
(General elections only.)
|
2021 |
2022 |
SB 15 |
| Washington |
Wash. Rev. Code § 29A.40.010
|
2011 |
2012 |
HB 5124 |
Table 18b: States That Allow Counties to Choose to Conduct Elections by Mail
| State |
Statute |
Details |
| Nebraska |
Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 32-95, 32-960
|
Any county of less than 10,000 inhabitants may apply to the secretary of state to mail ballots for all elections in lieu of establishing polling places. Certain ballot measure elections can also be conducted by mail. |
| North Dakota |
N.D. Cent. Code § 16.1-11.1-01 et seq. |
Counties may conduct any election by mail. Applications for mailed ballots are sent to each individual listed on the central voter file, and there must be one or more polling places in the county for voting in the usual manner.
|
Table 18c: States That Allow Certain Small Elections to Be Conducted by Mail
| State |
Statute |
Details |
| Alaska |
Alaska Stat. § 15.20.800
|
Elections that are not held on the same day as a general, party primary or municipal election may be conducted by mail. |
| Arizona |
Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 16-409, 16-558
|
A city, town, school district or special district may conduct elections by mail. |
| Florida |
Fla. Stat. § 101.6102
|
Referendum elections at the county, city, school district or special district level may be conducted by mail. |
| Kansas |
Kan. Stat. Ann. §25-432
|
Nonpartisan elections at which no candidate is elected, retained or recalled and which is not held on the same date as another election may be conducted by mail. |
| Maryland |
Md. Election Code Ann. § 9-501
|
Special elections not held concurrently with a regularly scheduled primary or general election may be conducted by mail. |
| Missouri |
Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 115.652 et seq.
|
Nonpartisan issue elections at which no candidate is elected, retained or recalled and in which all qualified voters of one political subdivision are the only voters eligible to vote may be conducted by mail.
|
| Montana |
Mont. Code Ann. §§ 13-19-101 et seq.
|
Any election other than a regularly scheduled federal, state or county election; a special federal or state election, unless authorized by the legislature; or a regularly scheduled or special election when another election in the political subdivision is taking place at the polls on the same day may be conducted by mail.
|
| New Mexico |
N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 1-24-3, 1-6-22.1
|
Special elections, except those to fill a vacancy in the office of U.S. Representative, shall be conducted by mail. |
| Wyoming |
Wyo. Stat. § 22-29-115
|
Counties may decide to conduct special elections not held in conjunction with a primary, general or statewide special election entirely by mail. |
Table 18d: States That Allow Elections in Certain Small Jurisdictions to Be Conducted by Mail
| State |
Statute |
Details |
| Idaho |
Idaho Code § 34-308
|
A precinct which contains no more than 140 registered electors at the last general election may be designated by the board of county commissioners a mail ballot precinct no later than April 1 in an even-numbered year.
|
| Minnesota |
Minn. Stat. § 204B.45
|
Elections conducted by a municipality having fewer than 400 registered voters on June 1 of an election year and not located in a metropolitan county may be conducted by mail. |
| New Jersey |
N.J. Rev. Stat. § 19.62-1
|
A municipality with a population of 500 or fewer persons, according to the latest federal decennial census, may conduct all elections by mail. |
| New Mexico |
N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 1-24-3, 1-6-22.1
|
A county may designate a precinct as a mail ballot election precinct if it has fewer than 100 voters and the nearest polling place for an adjoining precinct is more than 20 miles driving distance from the precinct boundary in question. |