More states follow Washington's lead in voting by mail
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.


More states are joining Washington in adopting automatic, universal mail-in voting — the kind that doesn't require you to think about requesting a ballot.
The big picture: Washington has been a leader in voting-by-mail for more than a decade, with state election officials often acting as ambassadors for mail-in voting around the country.
- Now, those efforts are showing results, with twice as many states voting by mail this election as did four years ago.
Why it matters: Voting by mail, especially when a ballot arrives at your home automatically, is considered easier and more convenient than requiring people to show up at a polling place.
- A 2020 study by Stanford researchers found that universal mail-in voting increased overall turnout by about 2 percentage points, without giving one party an advantage over another.
- Youth turnout in particular has been higher since Washington adopted universal vote-by-mail in 2011, Crosscut reported.
State of play: Washington is now one of eight U.S. states that automatically mail ballots to registered voters, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
- Of those states, Washington is one of only four that conducted all-mail elections before 2020. The others, along with the District of Columbia, adopted the universal vote-by-mail more recently.
Of note: Only Oregon predated Washington in setting up universal mail-in voting.
Zoom out: Even if many states aren't making mail-in voting quite as easy as Washington, more than half now allow people to request a mail ballot for any reason, rather than requiring a specific excuse, per the National Conference of State Legislatures.
What we're watching: Whether more states will switch to universal vote-by-mail systems before the 2024 presidential election.
Go deeper: What to know about voting in Washington state's 2022 elections
