Postal Voting

Postal voting (also called mail-in voting or vote-by-mail) allows electors to cast their ballot remotely through the postal system. Procedures vary by jurisdiction but typically involve an application or automatic dispatch, a secrecy envelope, a signed declaration, and a deadline by which the completed ballot must be received or postmarked.

Several democracies have institutionalised postal voting to differing degrees:

• United Kingdom: Postal voting on demand has been available to any registered elector since the Representation of the People Act 2000, replacing the earlier requirement to demonstrate a specific reason.
• Germany: Briefwahl has been permitted since 1957 and is widely used; the Federal Constitutional Court upheld its constitutionality in a 2013 ruling.
• Switzerland: All cantons have offered postal voting since 1994, and it is now the dominant channel for federal votes and referendums.
• United States: Rules are set state-by-state. Oregon (since 1998), Washington, Colorado, Hawaii, Utah, Vermont, California, Nevada, and the District of Columbia conduct elections primarily by mail. Use expanded sharply during the 2020 general election in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Australia: Postal voting is available to electors who cannot attend a polling place on election day, administered by the Australian Electoral Commission.

Arguments in favour commonly cited by electoral commissions and academics include higher turnout among the elderly, disabled, overseas, and rural voters; reduced queuing; and resilience during public-health emergencies. Concerns raised by critics include risks of ballot harvesting, family or employer coercion outside the polling booth, signature-verification errors, and delivery delays.

International bodies such as the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Venice Commission have issued guidance recommending safeguards: chain-of-custody controls, signature or identity verification, transparent counting, and the right of observers to monitor the process. Postal voting is distinct from proxy voting, early in-person voting, and internet voting, though jurisdictions often combine several channels.