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Mail voting grew steadily from under 10% in 2000 to nearly a quarter of all votes by 2018. The 2020 pandemic drove a historic spike to 46%. In 2022, mail-vote share settled at 33% — well above pre-pandemic baselines — indicating the infrastructure built during COVID-19 has become a permanent feature of American elections, not a one-cycle anomaly.
METHODOLOGY: Mail vote share figures from EAC Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS) reports, 2000–2022. Demographic reliance estimates from EAC EAVS 2022 and Pew Research Center post-election survey. Court timeline events sourced from NCSL, MIT EDSL, and AP News. State policy counts reflect NCSL classification as of 2024. Polling figure reflects AP News-cited aggregate; individual survey results vary.