Some states permit voters to join a permanent absentee/mail ballot voting list, also known as a “single sign-on” list. Voters who request to be on this list automatically receive an absentee/mail ballot for each election. This option may be offered to all voters, or to a limited number of voters based on certain criteria.
Eight states allow any voter to join a permanent absentee/mail ballot list and will mail that voter an absentee ballot for each election going forward: Arizona, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and Virginia.
In addition to the eight states with a permanent absentee/mail list, states may make such lists available for other groups of voters. For instance, 11 states permit voters with permanent disabilities to join a permanent list: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Louisiana, Maine and Wisconsin also make this option available to senior voters.
Other states allow eligible voters to remain on an absentee ballot list for one year: Oklahoma (Okla. Admin. Code 230:30-5-8.2), South Dakota (S.D. Codified Laws Ann. § 12-19-2) and Texas (Tex. Election Code Ann. § 86.0015).
For the eight states and Washington, D.C., that mail ballots to all registered voters, permanent absentee voter lists are not required: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington.
Sending Absentee Voting Applications
An additional six states not included on the table automatically send absentee/mail ballot applications to voters on a permanent list. This differs from the states in the table below since voters on that list must still return the application before receiving an absentee/mail ballot.
- Pennsylvania permits any voter to join a permanent list to receive absentee/mail ballot applications before each election (Pa. Stat. tit. 25, § 3146.2(e1)). Voters on this list in Minnesota receive applications before each election; voters in Pennsylvania receive applications at the beginning of the year and, upon submittal, the voter will receive an absentee/mail ballot for all elections that year.
- Three states send absentee/mail ballot applications to permanently disabled voters each election: Massachusetts (M.G.L. Ch. 54, §86), Missouri (Mo. Rev. Stat. §115.284) and Rhode Island (R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-20-9)
- Alaska (Alaska Admin. Code tit. 6, § 25.650) permits the election supervisor to designate a person as a permanent absentee voter and mail that voter an absentee/mail ballot application if the voter lives in a remote area, is a resident of a long-term care facility or is disabled.