Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Voting prep, part 3: Voting by mail

vote by mail
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Fulcrum is publishing a series of articles to help people navigate the shifting laws that govern elections. This, the third article, covers the deadlines for voting by mail.

Two years ago, with the Covid-19 pandemic raging across the country, 43 percent of voters cast their ballots by mail – a massive increase over prior elections.

Now that people have a taste for it, and with more states either switching to all mail elections or loosening the restrictions on absentee ballots, we can expect to see a large percentage choose that option this year.

But voters who do opt to vote by mail need to be aware of not one but two deadlines: first, to apply for a mail-in ballot and, second, when to submit the ballot in order for it to be counted. We’ve done the work for you.


While “absentee” and “mailed” ballots are often lumped into the same category of voting, as they both use the postal system, there are some differences. Absentee ballots may require a more formal application in which the voters need to specify the reasoning for using such a ballot (such as being away from home for college, work or military service, or due to health concerns or disabilities). Vote-by-mail may have only referred to the states that generally do not have in-person voting.

However, since the outbreak of the pandemic, mailed ballots have become a much more popular choice to cast a ballot and have become synonymous with absentee ballots. And a number of states that required a reason to use an absentee ballot have become “no excuse” states, allowing anyone to request such a ballot.

Made with Flourish

If you live in one of the eight states that proactively send all voters a mail-in ballot (California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington), you do not need to worry about the application deadline – unless you have updated your address. Utah, for example, required such notices to be filed 11 days before the election.

Similarly, California, Colorado, Hawaii and Oregon require updates to mailing locations to be submitted five to eight days out.

Mississippi, New Hampshire, and North Dakota do not have a specific deadline for which an absentee ballot application needs to be received; however, Vote.org recommends requesting the ballot seven days before Election Day.

Seven states — Wyoming, Delaware, Vermont, South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, and Connecticut — have received-by deadlines of one day before Election Day for absentee applications or updates, the most forgiving out of all the states. Once again, Vote.org recommends applying for an absentee ballot at least seven days before the election.

Every other state has mailed ballot application deadlines spanning between a month before Election Day to three days before people hit the in-person polls. Check with your state for specific deadlines.

Additional reading:

Once voters have submitted their absentee ballot applications, they then must focus on the deadline for returning the ballot to election officials. Many states — such as Rhode Island, New Mexico, Nebraska and Kentucky — require mail-in ballots to be received by sometime on Election Day.

Others like Florida, Alabama and Minnesota have different same-day deadlines for mailing absentee ballots rather than delivering them by hand. Depending on the state, voters will have an earlier receive-by time for in-person delivered ballots compared to mailed ballots, or the reverse.

North Dakota, Ohio and Alaska, among others, choose to emphasize the postmarked date and will honor the ballot when received by a specified date after Election Day. For example, California requires mailed ballots to be postmarked by Election Day and received no later than seven days after the election. New Jersey requires postmarked ballots to be received 144 hours after polls close.

No two states have the same procedure so it is always important to double check with your state to be informed of with their voting system.

The Voting Rights Lab has created a resource for tracking changes to vote-by-mail policies in each state.

Read More

Xavier Becerra Steps Back Into California Politics

Xavier Becerra

Xavier Becerra Steps Back Into California Politics

Xavier Becerra is once again stepping onto familiar ground. After serving in Congress, leading California’s Department of Justice, and joining President Joe Biden’s Cabinet as Secretary of Health and Human Services, he is now seeking the governorship of his home state. His campaign marks both a return to local politics and a renewed confrontation with Donald Trump, now back in the White House.

Becerra’s message combines pragmatism and resistance. “We’ll continue to be a leader, a fighter, and a vision of what can be in the United States,” he said in his recent interview with Latino News Network. He recalled his years as California’s attorney general, when he “had to take him on” to defend the state’s laws and families. Between 2017 and 2021, Becerra filed or joined more than 120 lawsuits against the Trump administration, covering immigration, environmental protection, civil rights, and healthcare. “We were able to defend California, its values and its people,” he said.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Voting booths in a high school.

During a recent visit to Indianapolis, VP JD Vance pressed Indiana Republicans to consider mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Getty Images, mphillips007

JD Vance Presses Indiana GOP To Redraw Congressional Map

On October 10, Vice President JD Vance visited Indianapolis to meet with Republican lawmakers, urging them to consider redrawing Indiana’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The visit marked Vance’s third trip to the state in recent months, underscoring the Trump administration’s aggressive push to expand Republican control in Congress.

Vance’s meetings are part of a broader national strategy led by President Donald Trump to encourage GOP-led states to revise district boundaries mid-decade. States like Missouri and Texas have already passed new maps, while Indiana remains hesitant. Governor Mike Braun has met with Vance and other Republican leaders. Still, he has yet to commit to calling a special legislative session. Braun emphasized that any decision must ensure “fair representation for every Hoosier."

Keep ReadingShow less
A child looks into an empty fridge-freezer in a domestic kitchen.

The Trump administration’s suspension of the USDA’s Household Food Security Report halts decades of hunger data tracking.

Getty Images, Catherine Falls Commercial

Trump Gives Up the Fight Against Hunger

A Vanishing Measure of Hunger

Consider a hunger policy director at a state Department of Social Services studying food insecurity data across the state. For years, she has relied on the USDA’s annual Household Food Security Report to identify where hunger is rising, how many families are skipping meals, and how many children go to bed hungry. Those numbers help her target resources and advocate for stronger programs.

Now there is no new data. The survey has been “suspended for review,” officially to allow for a “methodological reassessment” and cost analysis. Critics say the timing and language suggest political motives. It is one of many federal data programs quietly dropped under a Trump executive order on so-called “nonessential statistics,” a phrase that almost parodies itself. Labeling hunger data “nonessential” is like turning off a fire alarm because it makes too much noise; it implies that acknowledging food insecurity is optional and reveals more about the administration’s priorities than reality.

Keep ReadingShow less
Standing Up for Democracy Requires Giving the Other Side Credit When It Is Deserved

U.S. President Donald Trump poses with the signed agreement at a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war on October 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

(Photo by Suzanne Plunkett - Pool / Getty Images)

Standing Up for Democracy Requires Giving the Other Side Credit When It Is Deserved

American political leaders have forgotten how to be gracious to their opponents when people on the other side do something for which they deserve credit. Our antagonisms have become so deep and bitter that we are reluctant to give an inch to our political adversaries.

This is not good for democracy.

Keep ReadingShow less