Mail-in voting was popular in places like Cape Cod in 2020. Is it here to stay?

Jessica Hill Cape Cod Times

Published Dec 22, 2020

Driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, mail-in voting was at an all-time high in 2020. More than 1.5 million ballots were cast by mail in the November general election in Massachusetts, accounting for nearly 42% of the nearly 3.7 million ballots cast across the state

Although universal mail-in voting was a popular alternative in November, it is not yet clear that it will become a permanent option in the future.  

The Legislature passed a law in the summer that expanded mail-in voting beyond absentee ballots and increased the number of early in-person voting days for the 2020 primary and general elections.

Earlier this month, the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Baker extended mail-in and early voting to March 2021 to cover spring town elections. There is no proposal before the Legislature to make mail-in voting a permanent part of the state's election process.

But the issue has spurred an informal debate between town clerks and legislators.

“I believe mail-in voting is here to stay,” Barnstable Town Clerk Ann Quirk said. “It is so important for people to exercise their right to vote. If this is what’s going to help them, we’re all going to do this and with a happy face.”  

Legislation would be needed to expand mail-in voting for future elections, and certain changes would make the process easier for town clerks. 

Quirk said she would like to see legislation that expands early voting by mail and eliminates absentee ballots. 

Absentee voting, which every state allows, is typically done only under certain circumstances, such as illness, military deployment or a college student studying in a different town or state. Mail-in voting was offered as an option to all registered voters.

Only one ballot — absentee voting or mail-in — would be necessary, Quirk said. Eliminating one of the two would lighten the workload for town clerks.

There are certain aspects of the mail-in voting process that could also be streamlined, she said.

For instance, equipment could be installed in the clerk's office that would save staff time when filing voter registration information in preparation for the election. The current process forces them to input information multiple times, increasing the chances for human error, Dennis Town Clerk Terri Bunce said. 

If mail-in voting is to continue, she said she would need a bigger budget for more workers and more supplies. Having both early mail-in and in-person voting requires a lot more resources, she said.

In the last election, the three people who staff the town clerk's office were doing much more work, Bunce said. Because of the pandemic, she could not use all of her workers, because there was a limited number of people allowed to work in the office simultaneously.

“Voting by mail during a pandemic makes sense,” she said, adding that it doesn't make sense in normal times. "Why kill all the town clerks in Massachusetts? It’s exhausting.”

State Sen. Susan Moran, D-Falmouth, co-sponsored an amendment that extended early voting for any annual or special municipal or state election held in the spring on or before June 30, 2021. The proposal was tacked onto the $46 billion Senate budget that was sent to the governor. A Baker amendment cut the extension to March 31.

Baker's amendment also allows for 10 days of in-person voting if the local election official recommends it and it receives approval from the appropriate municipal authority.

Falmouth Town Clerk Michael Palmer supports the expansion of early mail-in voting because it made voting easier and helped boost voter turnout. But he said he opposes the 10-days of early in-person voting, because in-person early voting unnecessarily exposes staff and voters to COVID-19. 

Moran said she is worried that having different processes in different municipalities will confuse voters and have the effect of suppressing the vote.

“My personal perspective is that we should make the right to vote as easy as possible so that we get every voice of every person to be able to be heard in electing their officials,” Moran said. “I think mail-in does that.”

If mail-in voting is expanded, state Rep. Timothy Whelan, R-Brewster, said he will listen closely to the town clerks in his district and learn from them what they think the best practices are to secure mail-in votes and make the procedure better.

Whelan said he likes the idea of early voting but is more of a “traditionalist” when it comes to voting. Voting in person makes people feel comfortable and that their vote is secure, Whelan said.

“I think what we did this time was really necessary given the pandemic,” Whelan said. “I just don’t know that I’d support it going forward for all elections.” 

Moran, meanwhile, said she saw mail-in voting as a practical and appreciated solution to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I certainly agree with the clerks that I’ve spoken with in that mail-in voting should be expanded into the future,” Moran said. “It worked well, and the in-person early might be narrowed or curtailed to something that is less costly for towns and more amenable to the town process.”