Voting, election, ballot papers, distributed to electors or returned by post, mail
"Mail-in ballot" redirects here. For write-in ballot, see Write-in candidate.
No postal voting system in place
Postal voting available only for some/all citizens abroad
Postal voting available for some/all citizens abroad, and for citizens at home meeting certain conditions
Postal voting available for all citizens on demand
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Ballot and other documents for postal voting for the 2015 Luxembourg constitutional referendum
Postal voting is voting in an election where ballot papers are distributed to electors (and typically returned) by post, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling station or electronically via an electronic voting system.
In an election, postal votes may be available on demand or limited to individuals meeting certain criteria, such as a proven inability to travel to a designated polling place. Most electors are required to apply for a postal vote, although some may receive one by default. In some elections postal voting is the only voting method allowed and is referred to as all-postal voting. With the exception of those elections, postal votes constitute a form of early voting and may be considered an absentee ballot.
Typically, postal votes must be mailed back before the scheduled election day. However, in some jurisdictions return methods may allow for dropping off the ballot in person via secure drop boxes or at voting centers. Postal votes may be processed by hand or scanned and counted electronically. The history of postal voting dates back to the 19th century, and modern-day procedures and availability vary by jurisdiction. Research, focused on the United States and using data from states where postal voting is widely available—California, Oregon and Washington—shows that the availability of postal voting tends to increase voter turnout.[1][2][3]
Electoral laws typically stipulate a series of checks to protect against voter fraud and allow for the integrity and secrecy of the submitted ballot to be maintained.[clarification needed] Known instances of fraud are very rare.[4] Coordinated, large-scale fraud by postal voting is likely hard to pull off undetected because the large number of interested parties (such as officials, political operators, and journalists) as well as a large number of scholars and analysts who are capable of detecting statistical outliers in vote totals signifying large-scale fraud.[2] Officials can confirm instances of fraud by checking signatures and conducting basic detective work.[2]
^Hill, Charlotte; Grumbach, Jacob; Bonica, Adam; Jefferson, Hakeem (2020). "We Should Never Have to Vote in Person Again". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
^ abcWines, Michael (2020-05-25). "Which Party Would Benefit Most From Voting by Mail? It's Complicated". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2020-12-11. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
^Thompson, Daniel M.; Wu, Jennifer A.; Yoder, Jesse; Hall, Andrew B. (2020-06-09). "Universal vote-by-mail has no impact on partisan turnout or vote share". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (25): 14052–14056. Bibcode:2020PNAS..11714052T. doi:10.1073/pnas.2007249117. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 7322007. PMID 32518108.
^Qvortrup, Matt (2005). "First past the Postman: Voting by Mail in Comparative Perspective". The Political Quarterly. 76 (3): 414–419. doi:10.1111/j.1467-923X.2005.00700.x. ISSN 1467-923X.
contrast to electors voting in person at a polling station or electronically via an electronic voting system. In an election, postalvotes may be available...
Postalvoting in the United States, also referred to as mail-in voting or vote by mail, is a form of absentee ballot in the United States, in which a ballot...
normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postalvoting, proxy voting and online voting. Increasing the ease of access to absentee...
Postalvoting played an important role in the 2020 United States elections, with many voters reluctant to vote in person during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic...
Different voting systems allow each voter to cast a different number of votes - only one (single voting as in First-past-the-post voting, Single non-transferable...
Absentee voting in the United Kingdom is allowed by proxy or post (known as postalvoting on demand) for any elector. Proxy voting is allowed for people...
they return the votes by post. When the counting of votes commences, these postalvotes are counted before those from the Electronic Voting Machines. Only...
monitoring of assigned tasks. Voting in India is done using Electronic voting machines (EVMs) and there are provisions for Postalvoting and special arrangements...
election day. Early voting can take place remotely, such as via postalvoting, or in person, usually in designated early voting polling stations. The...
Electronic voting is the standard means of conducting elections using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in India. The system was developed for the Election...
Law Postal Survey was a national survey designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was held via the postal service...
age. The most common voting age is 18, though some countries have minimum voting ages set as young as 16 or as old as 21. Voting in Australia is compulsory...
residents in the commune of Anières voted over the internet in a trial, marking the first time e-voting (electronic voting) was used in Switzerland for a binding...
electronic voting machines. Traditionally, a voting machine has been defined by its mechanism, and whether the system tallies votes at each voting location...
Compulsory voting, also called universal civic duty voting or mandatory voting, is the requirement that registered voters participate in an election....
improve the efficiency of voting by the introduction of postalvoting and remote electronic voting. Some countries permit proxy voting, but some argue this...
(an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan) is a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The term ZIP was chosen to suggest that...
Electronic voting is voting that uses electronic means to either aid or take care of casting and counting ballots. Depending on the particular implementation...
An open ballot system is a voting method in which voters vote openly, in contrast to a secret ballot, where a voter's choices are confidential. The open...
activist in Peterborough was arrested after alleged postalvoting fraud, calling into question 150 postalvotes. Simon Bennett resigned as the head of the British...
which cannot be altered by Congress except by constitutional amendment. Postalvoting in the United States has become increasingly common, with 25% of voters...
unprecedented levels of postalvoting and early voting. Voter turnout greatly exceeded recent elections; one projection has turnout by voting eligible population...
known as the Transvaal Republic, set a voting age of 18 years. The effort was, like later legislation expanding voting rights for women and impoverished whites...
United States Postal Service is the governing body of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The board oversees the activities of the Postal Service, while...
July 7). The Ink To Prevent Double Voting. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501320642/video-the-ink-to-prevent-double-voting/ Khmer Times. (2023, July 6). Gov't...
online voting, postalvoting, and absentee voting. Other regulations include the selection of voting devices such as paper ballots, machine voting or open...
paperless electronic voting. The word ballot derives from voting systems based upon the use of a small ball instead of a voting paper: see blackball....
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