The 2020 experiment with voting by mail checked the box for most voters

After a year with many generation-defining developments, one thing can be said for certain: mail ballots have never been more relevant. According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, the share of the total vote cast by mail grew by more than 80% from 2018. And for nearly four out of ten mail ballot voters, this was their first time casting their ballot this way.

But did voters enjoy voting by mail, or did they simply see it as a necessary burden?

Let’s look at the evidence so far. According to the research, most people wanted to vote by mail: they didn’t feel forced by the pandemic. 70% of mail voters cited mail voting’s convenience as a major reason they decided to vote by mail, while less than half cited fear of coronavirus as a major reason.

Have you ever tracked a package online, anxiously awaiting its arrival? In 2020, most voters who voted by mail ballot did exactly that by tracking their ballots online. That’s not just young voters who live on their phones and computers: more than 4 out of 10 seniors aged 65 and older tracked their ballots online. In many states, this tracking tells voters when their ballots have been mailed, received, and even accepted for counting. (For more details on ballot tracking systems across the country, check out our in-depth article from last year.)

With all this data on the status of their ballots, it’s no wonder that voters who used mail ballots were more confident that their own ballots were counted correctly than voters that voted in person.

Given the convenience, confidence, and transparency of voting at home, it’s safe to say that most mail voters enjoyed their experience. While this pandemic will one day end, we believe the demand for mail voting won’t. More than 38 million voters in 11 states could have their access to voting by mail rescinded when their state goes back to severely limiting which voters can vote by mail.

The data is in, and the voters agree: voting by mail is a secure, convenient way to practice your rights as a citizen. We’re taking our expertise to state legislatures, working with leaders from across the country and the political spectrum to maintain and increase access to mail ballots. We won’t stop working until every voter has the opportunity to cast their ballot via the method they prefer.

All data gathered from: Pew Research Center, November, 2020, “Sharp Divisions on Vote Counts, as Biden Gets High Marks for His Post-Election Conduct”