Mailed Ballots Boosted 2020’s Turnout — Will They Work In 2022?

Despite attempts from Republicans to undermine mail ballots, they boosted turnout in 2020. What is left to see if they will work in the 2022 mid-terms. This article by Steven Rosenfeld is published by The Fulcrum. Here is an excerpt:

States that mailed a ballot to every registered voter in 2020’s presidential election saw voter turnout increase by an average of 5.6 percent, and turnout was even higher among infrequent voters, according to the first peer-reviewed academic study of 2020 mail voting.

The turnout increase was slightly larger than previous studies of mail-based voting conducted before 2020’s election, where 71 million-plus voters, including voters in swing states, turned to mailed-out ballots in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Less convenient versions of mail-based voting, such as local officials sending all voters an application to fill out and submit before receiving a ballot, or a state relaxing that application’s criteria but still requiring voters to apply, had smaller impacts on lifting voter turnout.

Read the full story here.