Absentee Voting Laws: State-by-State Legal Guide

Abstentee voting laws allow for early voting, as ballots are sent in advance of election day.

For many voters, casting a ballot by mail offers flexibility that in-person voting cannot. Behind that convenience is a detailed set of election laws that determine how absentee ballots are requested, handled, and counted.

States differ in their eligibility rules, submission deadlines, and procedures for reviewing ballots upon arrival at election offices. When questions arise about whether a ballot was properly handled or counted, knowing how these laws operate can make a meaningful difference. For personalized legal advice, contact a local civil rights attorney.

No-Excuse vs. Excuse-Required Absentee Voting

States allow registered voters to opt for absentee voting or vote-by-mail if they can’t or don’t want to visit a polling place on election day.

While all states offer alternatives to in-person voting, the state laws can vary significantly. Some states require eligible voters to have a qualifying excuse. Other states do not require an excuse, allowing anyone to vote by mail. Some states automatically send everyone a mail-in ballot.

Two states have unique laws. Rhode Island recognizes no-excuse absentee voting, allowing any state resident to request an absentee ballot. However, its statute lists acceptable excuses for requesting an absentee ballot. Vermont uses all-mail elections for general elections only. So, voters would need to request an absentee ballot for a primary election or a local election.

Excuse-Required Absentee Voting

For the 14 states (plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands) that require a qualifying excuse, the reasons vary, though all allow voters who will not be in their county on election day to request an absentee ballot.

States can’t expect people to vote in person when they are physically unable to do so. All these states also allow citizens with an illness or disability that prevents them from visiting a polling location to vote by absentee ballot.

Some states recognize additional excuses, including:

• Persons over a certain age
• Election worker or poll worker
• Student living outside of the county
• Their work shift is during all voting hours.
• Religious belief or practice

Universal Mail-In States: Where Every Voter Automatically Receives a Ballot

Eight states conduct elections entirely by mail. Voters in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C., vote by mail.

Voters will automatically be sent their ballot. They would only need to request a ballot if it needs to be sent to an address different from their voter registration or usual address.

State-by-State Absentee Voting Laws and Requirements

The table below summarizes state laws on voting absentee, including the types of voting allowed, deadlines, and state websites with more information on voting requirements in your jurisdiction.

State	Voting Type	Application Deadline	State Statute
Alabama	Excuse required	7 days before (mail)/ 5 days (in-person)	Ala. Code § 17-11-3
Alaska	No-excuse	10 days before Election Day	Alaska Stat. § 15.20.081
Arizona	No-excuse	11 days before Election Day	Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-542
Arkansas	Excuse required	7 days before (mail/fax)/ Friday before (in-person)	Ark. Code § 7-5-404
California	Vote by mail	N/A	Cal. Elec. Code § 3000.5
Colorado	Vote by mail	N/A	Colo. Rev. Stat. § 1-5-401
Connecticut	Excuse required	Day before Election Day/ 6 days for emergency	Conn. Gen. Stat. § 9-140
Delaware	Excuse required	Day before Election Day (noon)	15 Del. Code § 5503
Florida	No-excuse	12 days before Election Day (5 p.m.)	Fla. Stat. § 101.62
Georgia	No-excuse	11 days before Election Day	Ga. Code § 21-2-381
Hawaii	Vote by mail	N/A	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 11-101
Idaho	No-excuse	11 days before Election Day (5 p.m.)	Idaho Code § 34-1002
Illinois	No-excuse	5 days before (mail)/ day before (in-person)	10 ILCS 5/19-2
Indiana	Excuse required	12 days before Election Day	Ind. Code § 3-11-4-3
Iowa	No-excuse	15 days before Election Day (5 p.m.)	Iowa Code § 53.2
Kansas	No-excuse	Tuesday before Election Day	Kan. Stat. § 25-1122
Kentucky	Excuse required	14 days before Election Day	Ky. Rev. Stat § 117.085
Louisiana	Excuse required	4 days before Election Day	La. Rev. Stat. § 18:1307
Maine	No-excuse	3 business days before Election Day	21-A Me. Rev. Stat. § 753-B
Maryland	No-excuse	Tuesday before (mail)/ Friday before (online)	Md. Election Law § 9-305
Massachusetts	No-excuse	5 business days before Election Day	M.G.L.A. 54 § 25B
Michigan	No-excuse	Friday before (mail)/ day before (in-person)	Mich. Comp. Laws § 168.759
Minnesota	No-excuse	Day before Election Day	Minn. Stat. § 203B.04
Mississippi	Excuse required	No specific deadline, at least 7 days recommended	Miss. Code § 23-15-637
Missouri	Excuse required	2nd Wednesday before Election Day (5 p.m.)	Mo. Rev. Stat. § 115.279
Montana	No-excuse	Day before Election Day (Noon)	Mont. Code § 13-13-212
Nebraska	No-excuse	2nd Friday before Election Day	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 32-941
Nevada	Vote by mail	N/A	NRS § 293.269911
New Hampshire	Excuse required	Day before Election Day (5 p.m.)	N.H. Rev. Stat. § 657:17
New Jersey	No-excuse	7 days before (mail)/ day before (in-person)	N.J. Stat. § 19:63-3
New Mexico	No-excuse	Tuesday before Election Day	N.M. Stat. § 1-6-4
New York	No-excuse	10 days before Election Day	N.Y. Election Law § 8-400
North Carolina	No-excuse	2nd Tuesday before Election Day (14 days)	N.C. Gen Stat § 163-230.1
North Dakota	No-excuse	No specific deadline, at least 7-10 days recommended	N.D. Cent. Code § 16.1-07-01
Ohio	No-excuse	7 days before Election Day	Ohio Rev. Code § 3509.03
Oklahoma	No-excuse	3rd Monday before Election Day (15 days)	26 OK Stat § 14-103
Oregon	Vote by mail	N/A	ORS § 254.465
Pennsylvania	No-excuse	Tuesday before Election Day (5 p.m.)	25 P.S. § 3150.11
Rhode Island	No-excuse	21 days before Election Day	R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-20-2.1
South Carolina	Excuse required	11 days before Election Day	S.C. Code § 7-15-310
South Dakota	No-excuse	Day before Election Day (5 p.m.)	S.D. Cod. Laws § 12-19-2
Tennessee	Excuse required	10 days before Election Day	T.C.A. § 2-6-202
Texas	Excuse required	11 days before Election Day	Tex. Elec. Code § 84.007
Utah	Vote by mail	N/A	Utah Code § 20A-3a-302
Vermont	Vote by mail	N/A	17 V.S.A. § 2537a
Virginia	No-excuse	11 days before Election Day	VA Code § 24.2-701
Washington	Vote by mail	N/A	RCW 29A.40.010
Washington, D.C.	Vote by mail	N/A	D.C. Code § 1-1001.05
West Virginia	Excuse required	6 days before Election Day	W.Va. Code § 3-3-5
Wisconsin	No-excuse	Thursday before Election Day (5 days) for most voters	Wis. Stat. § 6.86
Wyoming	No-excuse	Day before Election Day	Wyo. Stat. § 22-9-105

Know the Strict Deadlines in Your State: Postmark Requirements vs. Received-By Laws

Knowing your state’s deadlines is essential for ensuring your absentee ballot is counted.

Deadlines To Request a Ballot or Change Your Address

The first deadline to know is for absentee ballot requests or change-of-address requests. For states that practice all-mail ballots, many have deadlines for when voters can request that their ballots be sent to an alternative address instead of the usual one.

These typically range from 7 to 15 days before election day. For states that practice in-person and mail-in voting, many have deadlines for when voters must request their absentee ballots. These can be days or weeks before election day.

Deadlines for Returning Your Ballot

The second crucial deadline is the date the ballot is returned. This is the date voters must return their completed ballot by for it to be counted in the election. These can be tricky because some states base their deadline on the postmarked-by date. Other states use the received by date.

States with postmark requirements typically require that the ballot be postmarked before the election date. Then they have a 5-15 day deadline after election day to receive the ballot. States with a received-by deadline require the ballot to be in the hands of an election official by a specific day, typically election day.

The most commonly used deadline is the date and time when in-person polling locations close. That way, everyone has the same deadline to submit their vote.

Additional State Requirements

Deadlines are not the only requirements that voters must adhere to. To ensure a ballot is accepted and counted, voters need to know in advance and follow any additional requirements for their state, including:

• Being required to sign their ballot
• Having the ballot signature witnessed or notarized
• Including personally identifying information such as a driver’s license number, address, birth year, or Social Security number

The Legality of Ballot Drop Boxes and Third-Party Collection

The purpose of mail-in ballots is to help citizens who otherwise wouldn’t be able to exercise their constitutional right to vote. This has created friction in some states as they develop acceptable collection practices.

Many states allow citizens to mail their ballots in or hand-deliver them to a polling station. Others require citizens to return their ballots only by mail. A few states place limits on who can turn in a citizen’s ballot.

Seven states require the voter to be the only person to return their ballot: South Dakota, Wisconsin, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Eleven states have no restrictions on ballot collection: Alaska, Washington, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Illinois, New York, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Washington DC. All other states fall between these two extremes, with varying numbers of restrictions.

Military and Overseas Voters: Special Protections Under UOCAVA

By federal law, all states must send absentee ballots to military and overseas voters for federal elections. This was established under the 1986 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). Citizens protected under UOCAVA include:

• Members of the United States Uniformed Services and merchant marine;
• Their family members; and
• U.S. citizens residing outside the United States.

Under UOCAVA, qualifying citizens can use the Federal Post Card Application to register to vote and request their absentee ballot. They do not need a separate absentee ballot application.

The U.S. Department of Defense manages the UOCAVA regulations through the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP). Qualifying citizens should go through this program to obtain more detailed information about registering to vote and using their federal write-in absentee ballot.

Challenging a Rejected Mail-In Ballot: Your Legal Recourse

Before absentee ballots are counted, election officials review ballots for compliance and legitimacy. Some common reasons for ballot rejection include:

• Signature mismatch
• Missing witness information
• Failure to meet deadline requirements
• Incorrect or incomplete ballot envelope.

Many states allow voters to correct certain errors after submitting their ballots. The voter will receive a notice via an online portal, email, or mail that their ballot was rejected. Depending on the reason for the ballot return, a voter may need to correct the issue and resubmit it.

If a ballot is rejected for a reason that can’t be easily corrected, a voter may need to file an appeal. This is typically done through the local election board or the Secretary of State. In rare situations, pursuing court action may be appropriate.

Acting quickly is essential when addressing a rejected ballot. Deadlines for fixing an issue or appealing a rejection are short. Missing the deadline may permanently invalidate the ballot.

Seek Legal Advice

Mail-in voting plays an important role in modern elections, but the laws governing absentee ballots are complex and often change through new legislation or court decisions. Questions about eligibility, ballot handling, or rejected votes may require a careful review of state election law. A knowledgeable attorney can help you understand your rights and determine the best course of action.

If you need guidance, use the Super Lawyers directory to find a qualified attorney in your area.