What State(s) Has The Best Voter Access? Nominations Are Being Accepted

[TomCADem]

I would like to nominate my home State of California. Why?

1. Many counties have adopted a vote center system where every voter is sent a vote by mail ballot. The voter then has a choice of sending it by mail, dropping it off at an official ballot box or handing it in at any vote center.

2. There is not an election day, but an election week where voters can in person at any vote center in their County. This is not early voting, but a 10 day-period where voters can vote in person if they do not want to use their vote by mail ballot. Due to the pandemic, this 10 day period is now limited to the upcoming weekend, but still that is a whole weekend leading to election day to vote.

I went to a vote center on a Sunday during the primaries and no one was there and just handed in my ballot directly. It was great. I have never had to wait in line to vote.

What about you? Is there a state that deserves top marks for voter access?

[TruckFump]

1. Second that.

Cal resident also.

[LizBeth]

2. Oregon ranked number one as easiest for voter. Or something.

[TomCADem]

6. I Think California Copied Either Oregon or Colorado

nt

[LizBeth]

7. +1. Oregon copied Washington on shut down in March. I am good with the good states seeing something

work and copying!!!

[DonaldsRump]

3. California n/t

[Evergreen Emerald]

4. Washington has had vote by mail for years

We receive the ballots in the mail along with a voting guide. Besides the ability to send it in the mail--no stamps needed--there are drop boxes throughout the state. The ballot is due by 8PM the night of the election. It is easy and trustworthy. We voted last week when we received the ballots and dropped them off at one of the official ballot drop boxes.

[A Brand New World]

9. Washington has my nomination for best voter state too. We just moved here 2 years

ago from Ohio and cannot say enough about the ease of voting. Why all states do not utilize this method is beyond me. Voting should not be a pain in the ass!

[thinkingagain]

12. Yes Washington is great for voting

They make it easy I never realized how good until started hearing stories here on DU.

[Akacia]

15. Yes! Love voting in Washington. nt.

[Midnight Writer]

5. I love the early voting in Illinois. Started late September this year. I voted September 29.

You can walk in any weekday. Have never waited in line.

Early voting is fine with me since I always know ahead of time how I will vote.

They also offer you a paper ballot, which I prefer. You can load your ballot into the machine yourself, and it gives you a green light when it is accepted.

[Progressive Jones]

17. I'm in Kane County, IL for 20 years now. Never a problem.

They run a very smooth, accurate, and honest election here.

[ColoradoBlue]

8. Colorado

We make it SO easy to vote. All ballots are mailed (no need to request them). You can register to vote ON election day. There are ballot boxes EVERYWHERE. You can sign up to receive texts when your ballot is mailed, when it's received back, and when it's been accepted for counting. You can also vote in person if you wish. There's a reason we had the 3rd highest voter turnout in 2016.

[Earthshine2]

11. Florida - It's been pretty easy for my wife and I.

1. Request ballot by mail
2. Receive ballot; fill it out
3. Send back by mail or drop in ballot box
4. Check the status - www.pbcelections.org/Voters/My-Status

I am marked as received and valid, but not yet marked as counted.

Here in Palm Beach County, there have been numerous emails and snail-mail fliers sent by the county about how to vote. They have done well, but it all comes down to the final counting.

I did not like that the county shared my email with some of the candidates and other orgs. Some spam because of this.

I have not received mailers about voting from the state, so there may be other parts of FL where they are not so well informed.

[2naSalit]

13. Montana's is very much like California's...

I am not sure if the early voting booths I saw were for mail-in change of choice in method or if it was just early voting. Either way, it's about the same, access is great and we get our ballots close to a month before election day and the in person booths were up then too.

[Retrograde]

14. California

they send out information to all voters on candidates and issues. It's easy to register or change registration. The Secretary of State has a website that lists all election rules - and later election results. And last but not least, at least my county looks for reasons to accept mail-in ballots rather than reject them - e.g., if signatures don't seem to match what's on file, the contact the voter and give them a chance to verify that it's them.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. New Mexico is excellent.

I believe vote by mail is well done here. I don't happen to make use of it. I do early in person voting.

They have really wonderful early voting. You can go to any location in your county, whether early or on election day and you get handed the ballot you need. No need to figure out which obscure voting location you need to find, which has happened to me in other states. We also allow on-site registration through the last day of early voting, which will be this coming Saturday.

[BainsBane]

18. MN is pretty good

We have same-day voter registration, and one of the very highest turnout rates in the country.

I don't know if there is a policy to send out absentee ballot request forms, but I got about 6 of them.

Early voting is new here. In Minneapolis, we have only had two locations, but two more are opening on the 27th. There is a line.

On election day, lines vary according to where you live. I've never had to wait, but I have in the past given rides to the polls, and in some black areas the lines are very long--this in a state with a Democratic government. But as people probably know by now, we have among the greatest racial disparities in the nation. Still, turnout is strong.

[moonscape]

19. California here too. They said onn the news, election

day, if there is a line they will take your number and you can wait in your car until you are called.

Covid safe!

[Reader Rabbit]

20. Oregon - We've been voting by mail for years.

You can drop your ballot in the mailbox, the nearest public library, or an official dropbox. You get a text when your ballot is mailed *to* you, a text when your completed ballot arrives, and a text letting you know that it will be counted.

*BOOM*

[LiberalBrooke]

21. Minnesota.

We have same day registration.

[judeling]

22. Minnesota by far

There is a reason Minnesota tops turnout year after year. If you want to vote there is a way. Your in a shelter and need to hide your location we have a procedure for that. You want to vote by mail but aren't registered, you can register as you request your ballot. You prefer to vote in person, you can start 45 days before the election with expanding hours as the day comes closer. You like to vote on the day, we have a precinct location for every 1200 eligible voters. Don't trust the mail, we have drop boxes and accept Fedx and UPS and we allow you to designate a person to drop it off.

Heck this year we have procedures to accommodate Maskholes.

[Vivienne235729]

23. I nominate my home state: AZ. For being a red state all these years, I have to give it to AZ

For having it together when it comes to voting. I am on the permanent mail in ballot list. I can change it anytime I want but I HATE VOTING MACHINES so that will never happen. This year w all the hoopla in voter suppression and postal service problems, my county (and other counties, too) had ample drop off boxes. All the drop off boxes were manned so there was no funny business. They moved the lines well and got through a historic deluge of early voters. County recorder's offices in AZ were organized, prepared, and communicated to the public at every turn. Also, once I dropped off my ballot, I can go onlinen and check on the status of it. Early part of last week it was in line for signature verification. Latter part of the week, it was sent to batch X for count.

I didn't even wait to drop off at the various drop off places to open. I went straight to the recorder's office and like a machine, they had people directly traffic flow, manned the box under a tent, and passed out a handout on how to track your ballot.

[dsc]

24. Despite the efforts of our awful legislature NC has some pretty great voting laws

We have 17 days of one stop early voting (6:30 to 7:30) on weekdays, 9 to 3 on Saturdays, and 12 to 4 on Sundays. On those days you can register and vote in one stop. We can use mail absentee with no reason and upon request (I did that this year to get my ballot and returned it in person to my BOE, I could have also returned it to an early voting center.

NC downfall is it is dependent upon the governor so if and when we have a GOP gov, then we get less good voting hours etc. In comparison to some deep blue states, NC really does a good job. I just hope we can keep doing so, if that voter ID bill is ever upheld, we will have to repeal it.