Americans Prefer In-Person Voting

At least 41 states, plus Washington, D.C., will allow people to vote by mail this year. But the nine other states require people to provide an excuse to vote absentee in the fall.

The figures come from The Washington Post and were cited in an analysis by FiveThirtyEight. The Post said those nine states are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, New York and Connecticut.

FiveThirtyEight noted some of those states may change their laws before Election Day.

And a new poll by the Pew Research Center found that 65% of adults said any voter should be able to vote early or by absentee ballot without any excuse. Just 19% of Americans say that voters should need an excuse other than the coronavirus pandemic to vote absentee.