Context:

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission reported a decline in mail-in voting from 43% in 2020 to 30.3% in 2024, while early in-person voting has increased, with over two-thirds of voters casting ballots in person. Despite the decline, mail voting remains more prevalent than in pre-pandemic elections, and overall voter turnout in 2024 was the second highest in recent presidential elections. The shift away from mail voting is attributed to reduced state expansions of mail voting and misinformation campaigns post-2020. However, early in-person voting is seen as a convenient option, and 98% of jurisdictions now have a paper trail for their systems. Challenges remain in recruiting younger poll workers to replace the aging workforce that predominantly staffed polling sites during the pandemic.

Dive Deeper:

• The U.S. Election Assistance Commission found that while mail-in voting rates decreased to 30.3% in 2024 from 43% in 2020, they are still higher than pre-pandemic levels, indicating a sustained but reduced preference for this method post-pandemic.

• A resurgence in in-person voting was observed with over two-thirds of the electorate choosing to vote either on Election Day or early in-person, signaling a shift back to traditional voting methods.

• The overall voter turnout in 2024 was significant, with nearly 65% of the citizen voting age population participating, marking it as the second highest in the past five presidential elections.

• Factors contributing to the decline in mail-in voting include the rollback of pandemic-era expansions of mail voting and misinformation campaigns aimed at discrediting this method, which led to new restrictive laws in certain states.

• Despite some states imposing limits on mail voting, the option remains widely accessible, and Republicans have encouraged early mail voting through initiatives like 'Bank Your Vote'.

• Early in-person voting, offered by all states for the first time, has been highlighted as a convenient option for voters with busy schedules, with 35.2% of voters casting their ballots before Election Day.

• Election security has seen improvements, with 98% of jurisdictions maintaining a paper trail and a consistently low mail ballot rejection rate of 1.2%, although challenges in recruiting younger poll workers persist as the current workforce ages.