As the Nov. 3 election approaches, election officials across the country are beginning to send absentee/mail-in ballots to voters. Laws governing the absentee/mail-in voting process vary from state to state. Here's an overview of what those laws look like this year.
All states allow for some form of absentee/mail-in voting. Thirteen states require voters to provide a valid excuse to vote by mail. Depending on the state, those excuses can include illness or disability, travel outside the state, or military service.
After Connecticut enacted legislation earlier this year to remove its excuse requirement, 29 states now allow any eligible voter to cast an absentee/mail-in ballot. Eight states have all-mail voting systems, where all eligible voters receive a mail-in ballot by default.
Once a voter receives a ballot, they must fill it out, sign the ballot envelope, and return it to election officials. The deadlines for when the ballot must be returned vary by state.
In 34 states, ballots returned by mail must be received by election day in order to be counted. In one state, Louisiana, ballots must be received by 4:30 p.m. on the day before the election.
Fifteen states states allow ballots postmarked by election day and received within a set post-election window to be counted. In Texas, ballots must be received by the day following the election, while in Washington, the deadline is the county canvass, which must occur within 21 days of the election. Kansas' statute requiring ballots be received by the close of polls in order to be counted is currently enjoined by a court order, meaning ballots could be counted if they are postmarked by election day and received by the third day after the election.
In most states, voters may choose to return ballots in person. No state allows ballots to be returned in person after polls close on election day. Six states — Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and West Virginia — require ballots returned in person to be received before election day. Voters in some states may also return their ballots via a drop box.
Once election officials receive a ballot, they may review it to ensure there are no issues that might disqualify it from being counted. All states, for instance, require voters to sign a statement on the ballot envelope. Many states require the signature on the ballot envelope to match the signature on file with a voter’s registration record. If the signature is missing or it does not match, the ballot may be rejected.
In 35 states, election officials are required to notify voters of issues with their absentee/mail-in ballots and give them a chance to rectify them. This is called ballot curing. Of those states, 24 allow voters to cure their ballots after election day, eight require voters to cure their ballot on or before election day, and three do not specify a timeline in statute. Connecticut became the latest state to enact a cure period in 2026.
Two states, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, allow but do not require municipalities or counties to let voters cure their ballots. Thirteen states have no ballot curing requirements. In states that do not have a ballot curing process, ballots returned without signatures — or, in states that conduct signature matching, with mismatched signatures — are not counted.
Election officials must process absentee/mail-in ballots before they can be counted. State laws governing this step of the process may affect how long it takes for states to report their unofficial election results.
Processing activities may include steps such as verifying ballots are in the appropriate envelope, comparing signatures or identification numbers on ballots to those in a voter's file, removing ballots from secrecy sleeves or outer envelopes, organizing ballots for tabulation or scanning, and scanning or tabulating ballots without disclosing results.
State laws differ as to when processing may begin. Nineteen states permit election officials to fully process and scan at least some early and absentee/mail-in ballots before election day. Twenty-five states permit election officials to perform at least some aspects of absentee/mail-in ballot processing before election day. Six states do not permit election officials to begin processing absentee/mail-in ballots until election day.
Once a ballot has been processed, it is set aside to be counted. Sixteen states permit counting to begin before election day. An additional 19 states allow counting to begin on election day before the polls close. The remaining 15 states require counting to begin only after voting has ended on election day. Some states may have an additional deadline for election officials to complete the counting and tabulation process.
