Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

The drop box rises as a compromise between the mail and the voting booth

Connecticut ballot drop box

Connecticut is among the states significantly increasing the number of ballot drop boxes available to voters this election cycle.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

There is no silver bullet that will save this pandemic-plagued election. When the president calls on his supporters to commit a felony by voting twice, and on the same day his attorney general fabricates a fake election fraud indictment, it's clear the climax of 2020 will be like no presidential race before.

But there's one solution that is so affordable, practical and achievable that it deserves special notice: ballot drop boxes.

For voters too afraid of the coronavirus to turn up at the polls, and worried the Postal Service will be too overwhelmed to deliver ballots on time, drop boxes — secure, locked structures that can be temporary or permanent — offer a relatively simple and confidence-boosting fix. Drop boxes are increasingly popular, may be installed at the discretion of local election officials, and will be used more widely than ever this year.


Of course, it's not that simple. President Trump has called drop boxes a "voter security disaster," and Republicans' post-election legal strategy reportedly includes challenging mail ballots that lack postmarks. In Pennsylvania, where election officials expanded the use of drop boxes for the primary, Trump and the Republican National Committee sued to block them, citing fraud concerns. In Ohio, GOP Secretary of State Frank LaRose limited drop boxes to one per county, prompting state Democrats to sue.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

But drop boxes could be hard to stop. A federal judge in Pennsylvania put the Trump-RNC suit on hold pending state court action, after Republicans failed to substantiate their claims of fraud. While only eight states explicitly permit or require drop boxes for voting, at least 35 plan to use them this fall. And where state laws are silent on drop box use, local officials have the discretion and authority to implement them, say advocates of absentee voting.

"This election season is one in which options matter, and where voters need as many reasonable, safe and secure avenues as possible to register their voices and their votes," says Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which has defended states' use and expansion of drop boxes in court.

A mail-in ballot surge swamped election officials and disenfranchised more than 500,000 voters during the primary, underscoring the need for alternatives, say voting rights advocates.

Drop boxes could alleviate so many of the chronic ills that plague elections — from long lines to equipment breakdowns to poll worker shortages — that it's a wonder they're not more widely used already. Says Myrna Pérez, director of voting rights and elections at the Brennan Center for Justice, which is advocating for easier voting: "It is such a common-sensical solution to some really challenging problems."

Even before the pandemic, drop box voting was going up. In Washington — one of the five states that were proactively sending ballots and return envelopes to all voters even before the pandemic — 57 percent of the ballots were returned to a drop box in the last presidential election, up from 38 percent in 2012, according to a report last month by the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project. Three-quarters of Colorado voters (another of the all-remote-vote states) returned their ballots using drop boxes four years ago, that same report found.

Drop boxes are embraced by many GOP election officials and have been endorsed by the Election Assistance Commission, the federal agency that offers mostly nonbinding guidance to states for balloting best practices. It recommends one drop box be created for every 15,000 to 20,000 registered voters.

Now, because of the coronavirus and intensifying postal delivery fears, election officials are poised to deploy drop boxes in record numbers. Connecticut (with 200 new drop boxes), Georgia (144), Maryland (270) and Michigan (more than 750) are just a few of the states that have dramatically expanded their use for the presidential election.

Some types of drop boxes require more funding and advance planning to install. The permanent, outdoor variety can cost $6,000, weigh up 600 pounds, and is typically made of steel, bolted to the ground and outfitted with a security camera. But temporary drop boxes may also be installed outdoors or indoors, and staffed at drive-through locations at peak times, or overseen by poll workers on Election Day.

In the capital of battleground Wisconsin, a Madison clerk capitalized on the security and convenience of book drops at libraries closed down because of Covid-19 to turn them into temporary ballot drop boxes for the primary. Election officials should also consider taking advantage of boxes set up for taxes and public utilities, and partner with institutions practiced at social distancing, such as grocery stores and banks, the EAC recommends.

A handful of states, including Tennessee, have blocked drop box use in the coming election, citing security concerns. But states that have used drop boxes extensively do not report problems with fraud, ballot theft or tampering. And some argue that drop boxes should be placed at each polling place throughout the country — during early voting and on Election Day.

This election faces multiple threats, from the danger that Trump will foment a crisis of confidence to poll worker shortages, health hazards, funding shortfalls and mail delivery delays. But a saving grace, some have suggested, may be the decentralized nature of our election system. Election officials enjoy considerable independence and local latitude. Ballot drop boxes are not a panacea, but their simplicity and practicality have made them a potential fix that more and more election administrators have decided not to overlook.

Carney is a contributing writer.

Read More

Business professional watching stocks go down.
Getty Images, Bartolome Ozonas

The White House Is Booming, the Boardroom Is Panicking

The Confidence Collapse

Consumer confidence is plummeting—and that was before the latest Wall Street selloffs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Drain—More Than Fight—Authoritarianism and Censorship
Getty Images, Mykyta Ivanov

Drain—More Than Fight—Authoritarianism and Censorship

The current approaches to proactively counteracting authoritarianism and censorship fall into two main categories, which we call “fighting” and “Constitution-defending.” While Constitution-defending in particular has some value, this article advocates for a third major method: draining interest in authoritarianism and censorship.

“Draining” refers to sapping interest in these extreme possibilities of authoritarianism and censorship. In practical terms, it comes from reducing an overblown sense of threat of fellow Americans across the political spectrum. When there is less to fear about each other, there is less desire for authoritarianism or censorship.

Keep ReadingShow less
"Vote" pin.
Getty Images, William Whitehurst

Most Americans’ Votes Don’t Matter in Deciding Elections

New research from the Unite America Institute confirms a stark reality: Most ballots cast in American elections don’t matter in deciding the outcome. In 2024, just 14% of eligible voters cast a meaningful vote that actually influenced the outcome of a U.S. House race. For state house races, on average across all 50 states, just 13% cast meaningful votes.

“Too many Americans have no real say in their democracy,” said Unite America Executive Director Nick Troiano. “Every voter deserves a ballot that not only counts, but that truly matters. We should demand better than ‘elections in name only.’”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hands outside of bars.
Getty Images, stevanovicigor

Double Standard: Investing in Animal Redemption While Ignoring Human Rehabilitation

America and countries abroad have mastered the art of taming wild animals—training the most vicious killers, honing killer instincts, and even domesticating animals born for the hunt. Wild animals in this country receive extensive resources to facilitate their reintegration into society.

Americans spent more than $150 billion on their pets in 2024, with an estimated spending projection of $200 million by 2030. Millions of dollars are poured into shelters, rehabilitation programs, and veterinary care, as shown by industry statistics on animal welfare spending. Television ads and commercials plead for their adoption. Stray animal hotlines operate 24/7, ensuring immediate rescue services. Pet parks, relief stations in airports, and pageant shows showcase animals as celebrities.

Keep ReadingShow less