Absentee Ballots a process for Overseas, Hospitalized and Even Jailed Voters

At Spread The Vote, we prepare for elections year-round. For the past two years, we've been able to engage thousands of incarcerated citizens seeking access to the ballot across several states. Often people associate absentee ballots with voters who are unable to get to the polls due to their physical condition or overseas location. However, absentee voting isn’t just for the elderly or the military. 

Absentee ballots are more versatile than most realize. Spread the Vote has been able to extend access to the polls to incarcerated citizens who are eligible to vote, like those awaiting trial or who are incarcerated pre-conviction, but struggle to participate in elections without the freedom of movement: the ability to visit their local clerk’s office or pick up a voter registration form at their registrar on their own. The restriction of incarceration means that for eligible voters in jails and other detention facilities, absentee ballots are of particular importance.

Unfortunately, during our research we found that the vast majority of clerks offices did not designate incarceration as a pre-selection on absentee ballot request forms. Fortunately, after corresponding with multiple clerks’ offices we were able to verify that incarceration is a legitimate reason to request a ballot. In several states the reason for requesting an absentee ballot is for record keeping, rather than being reviewed by the clerk's office for rejection. But incarcerated voters may not know this - that’s why we include detailed instructions in our participant packets to guide voters through the process of requesting an absentee ballot, so they don’t become discouraged by potentially misunderstanding the form. 

We believe incarcerated voters would benefit from more proactive outreach from local clerk's offices, to avoid such confusion. Clerks' offices should be doing more outreach to incarcerated voters, to clear up confusing information as it relates to jail voter registration as well as to prioritize their applications in order to avoid mailing delays. We’ve seen this happen in Oakland County, where the clerk’s office committed to walking voter education materials like voter guides to the jail across the street from the clerk’s office. We’ve also seen this in Washtenaw county where jail staff work closely with the clerk’s office in order to identify the need for voter registration at the time of booking.  It would be valuable for clerks' offices as well as officials to work together in service of jailed voter registration and election participation. It would also help to address mailing delays that could completely eliminate jailed voters' opportunity to participate in election if forms aren’t received in time for jailed voters to respond with appropriate time prior to registration, absentee ballot request and even submission deadlines. We also believe that when possible having incarceration be listed as a reason for absentee ballot selection would eliminate potential confusion for jailed voters as well as allow clerk’s officers to better categorize, prioritize and respond to requests from jailed voters.

As more jailed voters are educated on the absentee ballot process and able to take advantage of participating in elections, we hope that more clerk’s offices, jail staff and local officials are able to embrace this process in service of expanding access for jailed voters. We’ve seen incredible turnout for jailed voters who have access to the information needed in order to register to vote and request absentee ballots while incarcerated. Our operations in 2022 resulted in 1,897 voter registrations and 1,354 absentee ballots submitted, a turnout rate of 71% among voters who registered through our program. Eligible voters should be embraced and supported regardless of their incarceration status, and we’re eager to assist more jail staff, state officials, clerk’s offices and organizations with making absentee ballots widely available to voters who desperately need them in jails and detention facilities all over the country. If you’re interested in working with Spread The Vote to provide jailed voter support in your area, we would love to expand our service into new facilities. Email us at vbmij@spreadthevote.org