The United States Of America

The Constitution And Democracy

Absentee Voting
Absentee Voting, ab-s[sch ]n-te' vot'ing, the practice of casting ballots elsewhere than at the polls. The privilege is extended by state or national laws in most democratic countries to authorized voters who are unable by reason of illness or absence from home to vote at the polls in person on Election day.

In the United States absentee ballots were used in colonial times as early as the 17th century. Their first extensive use in the states was for soldiers in the field during the Civil War. Beginning in 1896 certain states granted the privilege by statutes to civilians compelled to be away from their homes on election day. In World War II the federal government adopted the "soldier ballot" and assigned election duties to certain officers. Since the war the states also have permitted absentee ballots for servicemen and their wives and for civilian personnel accompanying the armed forces.

Several states have added sickness and physical disability to the reasons for absentee voting. College students away from home are eligible in some states. California and a few other states allow absentee voting for persons living 10 miles or more from the nearest voting precinct. In the mid-1960s only New Mexico permitted no form of absentee voting in state or local elections.

Absentee ballots may be cast by proxy or by mail. In Virginia, for instance, the voter may vote by proxy by appearing at the office of the registrar of elections until five days before the election and fill out a ballot. The Ballot is placed in a sealed envelope and certified. If the voter applies for the privilege of voting by mail, the clerk mails the ballot, a certificate to be notarized, a ballot envelope, and an outside envelope to be returned by registered mail. In either case the clerk verifies the voter's eligibility and forwards the material to the precinct judges to be counted on election day.

Spencer D. Albright 
University of Richmond