The Washington Monthly has long argued that universal vote by mail, otherwise known as “vote at home,” is the single best way to increase voter turnout. Agree or not, that debate is now beside the point. Under pressure from voters worried about catching the coronavirus at polling places, states and counties across the country are rapidly reworking their electoral systems to enable more citizens to cast ballots by mail.
The question now is whether state and local governments have the capacity to do so without creating administrative nightmares. For answers, the Monthly’s editor in chief Paul Glastris and digital editor Eric Cortellessa spoke to Amber McReynolds, CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit research group that has been advising election officials across the country (Glastris co-founded the organization). McReynolds was previously the director of elections for the city of Denver and is the author of the book When Women Vote.
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