Voting Procedures

Offering a variety of voting options maximizes the chance for people to exercise their right to vote. These include early voting and absentee voting, as well as accessible and adequate polling places.

Early voting allows voters to cast a ballot in person ahead of the election. Some studies have found that early voting is not associated with higher turnout. Even so, early in-person voting is particularly important for some populations, particularly for women, Black, and Latino voters. Absentee voting allows voters to request and vote by absentee ballot. In 14 states, voters need a qualifying excuse to cast an absentee ballot; in 28 states, they do not. In the other eight states and the District of Columbia, all voters are provided with ballots by mail. As an alternative, some states have permanent early voting lists. Voters request to be on these lists, and once added, they are automatically sent a mail ballot for all elections.

States can make casting an absentee ballot more convenient by removing signature and notarization requirements. They can also provide a range of convenient ballot drop-off sites and prepaid postage for those who mail them. In addition, states can streamline the process to allow voters who initially requested an absentee ballot to surrender or cancel the ballot and vote in person instead.

The location, number, and hours of polling places are also important. In some areas, polling places are located equitably across neighborhoods. This gives everyone equal access to the polls. In others, certain neighborhoods have relatively few polling places. This can make it difficult for some people to vote. Some voters find it helpful to be able to vote in any precinct in their community rather than only the one where they are registered. This is especially important when a neighborhood does not have enough polling places to accommodate the number of voters and lines are especially long.

Polling places also need adequate staff and equipment. Outdated voting machines increase the risk of accidental failures and malicious hacking. Their continued use can lead to long lines and lost votes during an election. This potentially damages voter confidence.

People who vote in the wrong precinct must use a provisional ballot. Frequently, those ballots are rejected. Voting in the wrong precinct can easily happen when several precincts are housed in one polling place. In 25 states, provisional ballots are entirely rejected if a registered voter casts a ballot in the incorrect precinct. In 19 states plus the District of Columbia, they are partially counted. Some states often choose to consolidate precinct polling places into larger county vote centers. This makes it less likely that a voter will cast a vote in an incorrect precinct. However, it also can disenfranchise voters with mobility issues or those who live too far away from the voting centers.

Voting procedures in emergencies: Voting can be especially challenging during emergencies. These include major weather events and public health crises. Voters of all ages, backgrounds, and ability levels may need greater flexibility to vote in such times. States can help provide this flexibility by, for example, sending all registered voters an absentee ballot. They can also allow voters to cast their ballots at any location in the area.

Emergencies can cause many more people to cast absentee ballots than normal. For example, nearly half (46 percent) of votes in the 2020 election—conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic—were cast using absentee ballots. This was about double the rate of absentee ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election.

During public health emergencies, voters and poll workers may be especially concerned about safeguarding their own health. Election officials can put in place procedures to increase safety. For example, during the 2020 election, some polling places increased sanitation procedures, encouraged mask use, and promoted physical distancing.

Voters with disabilities: Federal laws mandate accessibility in the registration and voting processes for voters with disabilities. Polling places must be accessible. They also require better outreach to older adults and people with disabilities.

As of 2022, about 14 percent of American adults (some 33 million people) have a cognition disability with serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions. Many of them have an electoral preference and are capable of voting. Voters with cognitive impairments who want to vote but need assistance can obtain it. For example, they can receive help reading or filling out a ballot.

Most states have constitutional provisions barring people with various kinds of mental impairment from voting. The language used in these provisions is often imprecise and scientifically outdated. State voting and guardianship laws often use updated and more nuanced definitions that narrow the broad exclusions used in their constitutions. However, they can also vary significantly in this regard.

The capacity to vote is most likely to be raised and determined in guardianship proceedings. Only a few state guardianship laws specifically require a court to determine whether an individual has the capacity to vote in a guardianship proceeding. However, several state laws allow people under guardianship to retain all legal and civil rights not explicitly removed. With strict parameters, this safeguard may avoid inappropriately depriving people of the right to vote based on mental impairment.

The American Bar Association has recommended that state guardianship laws explicitly express that the right to vote is retained unless a court finds after due process that the person cannot communicate, with accommodations if necessary, a specific desire to participate in the voting process. In 2017, this recommendation was included in the Uniform Law Commission’s Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act (see also Adult Guardianship). 

Voters in nursing homes: About 1.4 million people live in skilled-nursing facilities. They may face challenges in exercising their right to vote. These voters often designate staff at their facility, friends, family members, or acquaintances to drop off their ballots either in drop boxes or with election officials. States that restrict ballot handling can disenfranchise voters in nursing facilities or those with mobility impairments who cannot travel to drop off their ballots. Alternatively, nursing homes can increase the ability of their residents to vote with mobile voting machines. The voting machines can be brought to these facilities. There, trained local election officials supervise the voting process.