Wyoming and Alaska lawmakers are among those considering legislation related to ballot drop boxes in 2026. Drop boxes are receptacles where voters can deposit their sealed absentee/mail-in ballot without using a mail service.

On Dec. 18, 2025, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray (R) said he would urge legislators to enact a law banning ballot drop boxes in the state. 

In August, Wyoming’s Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee voted to sponsor legislation prohibiting drop boxes, meaning the proposal will likely be reviewed when the state’s annual legislative session convenes in February. The Wyoming House of Representatives approved a similar bill last year, but it died in the state Senate.

In Alaska, the state Senate voted in May 2025 to approve SB 64, which would require drop boxes at each Alaska Division of Elections regional office. The House Finance Committee held a hearing on the bill on Jan. 29, 2026.

Legislators in 10 states have introduced or carried over 20 bills related to drop box availability and security in 2026. 

Nationally, states have a range of policies on drop boxes. Fifteen states require drop boxes, 14 states permit drop boxes but do not require them, 11 states prohibit drop boxes, and 10 states do not mention drop boxes in their statutes. 

States have varying policies on drop boxes. Fifteen states require drop boxes, 14 permit drop boxes but do not require them, 11 prohibit drop boxes, and 10 do not mention drop boxes in their statutes.

Eight of the 10 states — including Wyoming and Alaska — that do not mention drop boxes in state law have at least some jurisdictions that use them. The other two do not.

Some states require drop boxes to have certain security features. These requirements can include video or human monitoring, bolting drop boxes to the ground, or drop boxes designed to prevent fires. Twenty-six states require security measures for ballot drop boxes, while three states have none.

Drop boxes can be located inside or near various places, such as government buildings, polling places, and early voting sites. Thirteen states require local governments to establish a minimum number of drop boxes, while two states place limits on the total number of drop boxes. One state, Georgia, has both a minimum number of drop boxes and a limit. Thirteen states allow or require drop boxes, but have no restrictions on their number.

Critics of drop boxes say that they are not secure enough when compared with other ways of returning absentee/mail-in ballots, undermine trust in elections, and require election officials to hire more staff and spend money.

"Physical delivery to the county clerk's office or staffed polling place provides comprehensive assurance of delivery of a ballot," Gray wrote in a letter to county clerks in 2024. "Likewise, the use of the postal system, while not ideal, has an enforcement arm, the United States Postal Inspection Service, which is dedicated to investigating irregularities in delivery. By comparison, unattended and unstaffed ballot drop boxes are especially vulnerable in terms of physical safety."

Supporters of ballot drop boxes say they make it easier for voters to ensure their absentee/mail-in ballots are counted, ensure accessibility for people with disabilities, and are more secure than mailing an absentee/mail-in ballot using the U.S. Postal Service.

“Discontinuing the use of absentee ballot drop boxes now would create disruption for voters and would result in even greater disenfranchisement of eligible voters in our state,” Antonio Serrano, advocacy director of the ACLU of Wyoming, said in 2022. “Absentee ballot drop boxes in convenient places allow voters to securely cast their ballots at a time of their convenience – especially important for rural voters who have to travel long distances to vote.”

In 2025, two states, Maryland and Utah, enacted bills related to the availability or security of drop boxes. 

Maryland HB 75 changed state law to explicitly permit voters to return mail ballots via a drop box for special elections conducted by mail.

Utah HB 1004 established requirements for who can access video monitoring of drop boxes and specified how long election officials must preserve drop box videos. 

In 2024, four states enacted five laws regarding drop boxes, while in 2023, 10 states enacted 11 drop box-related laws. 

 Click here to read more about each state’s law on drop boxes.