Welcome to the Thursday, August 21, 2025, Brew.
By: Lara Bonatesta
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- A look at the state of mail-in voting in the U.S.
- Two ballot initiatives certified for 2025—fewest since 2019
- This week’s On the Ballot features our comprehensive ballot measure coverage in Arizona
A look at the state of mail-in voting in the U.S.
As the November 2025 general elections draw closer, one thing on the top of many people’s minds is the mechanics of casting a vote. One of the methods that many people use to cast their ballot is absentee/mail-in voting. Ballotpedia has a wealth of resources on that topic, and today we’re going to take a look at some of them.
All 50 states allow some form of absentee/mail-in voting. Fourteen states require voters to provide an excuse to vote by mail. The other 36 states do not require an excuse.
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission reported that 30.3% of voters cast their ballots by mail in the 2024 general election.
Most states require voters to request an absentee/mail-in ballot. Eight states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington — automatically mail each registered voter a ballot, though Vermont only uses this system for general elections. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed legislation earlier this year that will end the state’s all-mail voting system in 2029.
States have different requirements for what documentation a voter must provide in order to vote by mail.
Three states — Alabama, Kentucky, and New Hampshire — require voters to include a copy of their photo identification when requesting a mail ballot. New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) signed an absentee voter ID requirement into law earlier this month. Voters can also present their ID in person at their town clerk’s office or submit a notarized letter with their mail ballot application. Other states with voter ID requirements require voters to provide their driver’s license number or some other state-approved form of identification when applying to vote by mail.
Arkansas and North Carolina require voters to include a copy of their photo ID when they submit an absentee/mail-in ballot. Voters in North Carolina may include an exception form if they are unable to provide a copy of their photo ID.
Under federal law, voters who have not previously cast a ballot in the state in which they are voting and who did not submit a copy of their ID when registering to vote must either provide a copy of their ID with their absentee/mail-in ballot or submit a paycheck, bank statement, current utility bill, or government document showing their name and address.
In some states, election officials must verify certain details on an absentee ballot application with information the voter provided when they registered to vote. For example, in May, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) signed legislation requiring clerks to verify the signature and date of birth on the absentee ballot signature envelope against the voter’s registration or absentee ballot request form.
States also have different deadlines for when voters can request absentee/mail-in ballots, and different requirements for when ballots must be returned in order to be counted.
Three states — Kansas, North Dakota, and Utah — passed laws this year prohibiting election officials from counting absentee/mail-in ballots that arrive at a local clerk’s office after Election Day. Previously, ballots postmarked by Election Day would be counted if they arrived before certain deadlines.
On March 25, President Donald Trump (R) issued an executive order prohibiting states from counting ballots received after Election Day. On June 13, U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts temporarily blocked certain sections of the order, including the Election Day ballot receipt requirement. On July 31, the U.S. Department of Justice appealed Casper’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
So far this year, legislators have introduced 386 bills related to absentee/mail-in voting. Thirty-seven bills in 20 states have become law, more than all of 2024. Some noteworthy laws states adopted this year include:
- Maryland SB 93, which requires local election officials to send voters information about requesting an absentee ballot if they are not on the permanent mail-in ballot list. Governor Wes Moore (D) signed the bill on May 6.
- Oklahoma SB 814, which allows active duty military members or first responders to make an emergency request for an absentee ballot after the normal deadline for doing so has passed. Governor Kevin Stitt (R) signed the bill on May 5.
- Rhode Island S 0520, which extends eligibility for the state’s permanent absentee voter list to any voter, instead of only those with disabilities or confined to a nursing home, and replaces the affidavit to apply for the list with an application form. Governor Daniel McKee (D) signed the bill on June 24.
- Washington SB 5669, which required absentee ballots to be sealed in a security envelope and placed within an additional outer envelope. It also mandated voters deliver the ballot to the district’s principal office by the close of polls on election day or that ballots must be postmarked by election day and received within seven days. Governor Bob Ferguson (D) signed the bill on April 30.
On Aug. 18, Trump took to social media saying he would issue an executive order ending mail-in voting before the 2026 midterm elections. Trump also said that lawyers were working on the executive order.
Click here to learn more about absentee and mail-in voting legislation this year, and here to use our election administration legislation tracker.
Two ballot initiatives certified for 2025—fewest since 2019
Two citizen initiatives –both in Maine– were certified for statewide ballots this year. This means that 2025 is tied with 2019 for having the fewest citizen initiatives certified since 2011. An average of five initiatives were certified in odd-numbered election years between 2011 and 2013.
Sponsors in three states filed 109 ballot initiatives for statewide ballots this year. This makes 2025 the year with the second fewest filed initiatives since 2011. Only 2019 had fewer filed initiatives (107). The years with the most filed initiatives were 2021 and 2023, when there were 296 and 262 initiatives filed, respectively. An average of 175 initiatives were filed for odd-numbered election years between 2011 and 2023.
Excluding special elections, only four states allow citizen initiatives in odd-year elections: Colorado, Maine, Ohio, and Washington. In 2025:
- Sponsors in Washington filed 101 initiatives.
- Sponsors in Ohio filed five initiatives.
- Sponsors in Maine filed three initiatives, two of which were certified.
- There were no initiatives filed in Colorado. On average, sponsors filed 21 initiatives per year in odd years between 2011 and 2023.
The two ballot initiatives in Maine relate to requiring voters to present a photo ID to cast a ballot in person or by mail and establishing a process for obtaining an Extreme Risk Protection Order to restrict a person’s access to firearms. We’ve written about these measures in several editions of the Daily Brew. Click here, here, here, and here to see that coverage.
There are a total of 29 statewide measures on ballots this year, including the two citizen initiatives. State legislatures referred the other 27 measures to the ballot.
Click here to learn more about the ballot initiatives that were filed for 2025, and here to learn more about those that were certified.
This week’s On the Ballot features our comprehensive ballot measure coverage in Arizona
In this week’s new episode of On The Ballot, Ballotpedia’s Geoff Pallay and Victoria Rose discuss Ballotpedia’s Historical Ballot Measures Factbook and feature our 113 years of comprehensive ballot measure coverage in Arizona.
As we’ve mentioned in earlier editions of the Daily Brew, our factbook will document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the United States. This ongoing research effort will provide an unparalleled resource for researchers, reporters, and the public on how ballot measures have evolved, the issues they have covered, and their role in our civic life.
This week’s episode features a small selection of the ballot measures and stories from our Arizona factbook, which spans from 1911, the year before statehood, to 2024.
So far, we’ve published factbooks for 13 states, and we’ll eventually publish them for all 50. Click here to see all our published factbooks.
Subscribe to On the Ballot on YouTube or your preferred podcast app, or click here to listen.