As the election draws near, and the coronavirus pandemic rages on with no signs of abating, at least residents of 5 states that allow vote by mail do not have to worry about how they can participate in elections without risking their health and safety.
The US is by far the worst hit country in the world with respect to Covid-19, with over 5 million cases and well over 150,000 deaths. Despite the brutal toll that the pandemic has exacted, it seems that there are many top officials, including the President, who are still unable to grasp the severity of the issue. These are the people responsible for opening states too early and hence allowing the pandemic to seize control, with nowhere left to go. Many people thought that the pandemic would have subsided by the time the Presidential election drew near, and had proper procedure been complied with, perhaps that would’ve been the case, but now we will never know.
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Never once in the history of America have elections been delayed or cancelled. Not during the Cold War and not even during the World Wars have elections been postponed. This makes it all the more incredible that Trump, who has endorsed millions of kids going back to school, has also suggested delaying the election in view of the pandemic, though many suggest other ulterior motives.
Considering the technological advancements that the world has made, voting by mail should not even be a question at this point, it should be an automatic option. You can purchase anything you want, order food and even sign major contracts via mail from the comfort of your own home, you should be able to cast a vote the same way as well, assuming proper checks and balances. While many countries around the world, such as Finland and Italy, have introduced the option of voting by mail, it is still not implemented on a wide scale in the United States.
Nearly every state in the United States of America allows for some sort of postal voting, be it in case of absentee voting or early in person voting. However, our focus is on the states that allow all mail voting for all elections, which are very few in number; in fact, just one tenth of all the states in the US have all mail voting. In these states, every eligible voter automatically receives a ballot without having to even request it and can post the ballot, thereby avoiding the need to having to go out and register his vote in person.
This is different from the absentee vote; in which a ballot is sent to every voter, who for whatever reason, demands one, enabling him to cast a vote by mail. Two thirds of the states don’t require any excuse whatsoever for the voter to request an absentee ballot, while the remaining one third do require some specific excuses for requesting an absentee ballot.
To determine the states that allow complete vote by mail, we headed on over to the website of the National Conference of State Legislatures, which mentions the states where all elections take place through mail. Of the 5, Hawaii is the only state which also features in the 10 most democratic states in America, showing that perhaps this isn’t an issue of Democrats vs Republicans, but perhaps something even bigger. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the states where the elections will take place without any hassle, starting with number 5:
5. Hawaii
Starting with the 2020 elections, Hawaii will become the latest state to conduct elections entirely through mail. All eligible voters will get the ballot at least 18 days before the election.
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4. Utah
You would perhaps not expect to see Utah on this list, but the truth is Utah is one of the very few states to conduct every election by mail.
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3. Colorado
In 2013, the way Colorado residents voted changed forever when the option to provide each voter with a ballot in mail, regardless of it being requested or not, was provided. Even before this had happened, 74% of residents had chosen to vote by mail, so it was only a matter of time before election were conducted completely through mail.
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2. Washington
Washington has always been on the forefront of changes being implemented and had the first vote by mail elections back in 1983. In 2005, the vote by mail option was passed into law and is one of the first states to have opted for this.
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1. Oregon
Enacting vote by mail in 1999, Oregon tops the list of 5 states that allow vote by mail. You may notice some states in this list are also present among the states that banned plastic bags or likely to ban in the next 5 years, which shows the progressiveness of these states. Oregon is no exception to this.
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