States With Postage-Paid Election Mail
In most cases, it is up to the voter to pay for postage to return a mail ballot envelope to the election official. Some see this as a barrier to returning a ballot, or as a type of poll tax. One solution is to have ballot drop boxes widely available, and in states that hold all-mail ballot elections, returning by drop box or in person is the most common return method. Another option is for election officials to pre-pay postage for voters to return their ballots.
For military and overseas voters, federal law specifies that ballots can be returned to election officials using a free postage-paid symbol when mailed from a U.S. Post Office, Military Postal Service Agency (APO/FPO) or U.S. Diplomatic Pouch Mail. However, if voters return the ballot through a foreign mail system or via common carrier (such as FedEx, DHL or UPS), they must pay the rate for that service themselves.
For non-military voters returning a mail ballot, the following 17 states have statutes requiring local election officials to provide return postage for mailed ballots. This is typically a business-reply mailing, so that local officials only pay for return postage for the ballots that are actually returned via the U.S. Postal Service.
Note: New Jersey leaves it up to the discretion of county clerks to provide a postage-paid envelope (N.J.S.A. 19:63-12).
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/vopp-table-12-states-with-postage-paid-election-mail.aspx
See also "Absentee and Mail Voting Policies in Effect for the 2020 Election"
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/absentee-and-mail-voting-policies-in-effect-for-the-2020-election.aspx
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