Absentee/mail ballot applications require voters to provide identifying information—name, address, date of birth and often a signature, driver’s license number or the final four digits of the voter’s social security number. A few states may require additional information at the time of application, such as a copy of ID or notary signature, to confirm the voter’s identity and eligibility. Fourteen states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands also require voters to provide an excuse to qualify for an absentee/mail ballot. For more information on eligible excuses, see Table 2: Excuses to Vote Absentee.
When election officials receive an application from a voter, they use that information to verify the voter’s identity and eligibility before sending out the ballot. This is done in a variety of ways, but most commonly by verifying the applicant’s information in the statewide voter registration database. States may also conduct signature verification at this stage to compare the voter’s signature on the application with the voter registration signature. This step is meant to ensure that it is in fact the voter who is requesting the absentee/mail ballot.
Twenty-four states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands compare an applicant’s information and eligibility against the voter registration record:
Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Texas, Virgin Islands, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Eleven states conduct signature verification in addition to checking information and eligibility against the voter registration record:
Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Tennessee.
Alabama, Kentucky, South Dakota and Wisconsin require voters to provide a copy of ID. (Voters in South Dakota may submit a notarized oath in lieu of a copy of photo ID.) In Wisconsin, the ballot application information is checked against the enclosed ID; Alabama, Kentucky and South Dakota verify the provided information against the voter registration record.
Mississippi requires a notarized application. No further verification is done at the time of application.
South Carolina requires voters to sign an oath. No further verification is done at the time of application.
Alaska, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota and Washington, D.C., issue the ballot upon receipt of the application. These states and others verify the voter’s identity upon receipt of the ballot.