By Lynn Kellogg
Attacks on absentee voting are just wrong. Absentee voting was created to assure registered voters have a way to vote without physically going to a poll and waiting in line. The President recently voted absentee. Why? Because he’s a busy man and couldn’t get to or take time to get to his polling place. This is a good thing.
The COVID pandemic notedly increased the number of absentee voters. The establishment of absentee voting is historically successful in assuring a sacred right is available to all citizenry.
Looking at reports from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Election & Science Lab and USAFacts, in the 2024 election, nearly 60% of voters cast their ballots early or by mail: 29.0% voted by mail, 30.7% voted early, and 39.6% went to the polls on Election Day.
Who uses absentee ballots? It’s a diverse electorate of users, widely sought by voters of every political affiliation.
Voters aged 65+, the largest voting bloc in the country, were most likely to use mail-in voting. Mailed ballots accounted for almost 40% of votes cast by this group. Reasons range from health, transportation, or weather issues making it difficult to get to a polling location, to caregiving responsibilities, to retirement or work travel.
The older generations remain steadfast in their voting responsibilities and would be penalized the hardest by absentee restrictions.
Considering race, 1 in 3 white voters cast ballots by mail in 2024, totaling over 27 million votes. White voters cast the greatest number of mail-in ballots of all demographic groups.
Considering location, voters in every geographic setting used mail-in ballots at high rates. Mailed ballots were cast by 1 in 3 suburban voters, 1 in 3 city voters, and 1 in 4 rural voters.
Life abroad is another factor. In 2024, hundreds of thousands of members of the U.S. military and U.S. citizens living abroad relied on mail-in ballots to cast their votes, sending nearly 1 million votes through the mail.
Following claims of fraud in the 2020 election, many states, including Michigan, ran extensive studies and/or commissioned Election Oversight Committees to examine and further strengthen the security of their voting systems. Michigan fared well, and nationwide evidence of fraud by non-citizens or otherwise was found to be rare; inconsequential to results.
I have always been impressed and appreciative of the multitudes of trained volunteers who give their service on election day to assure the sanctity of our process. Their commitment to doing right at the poll feels palpable.
Now, several forces potentially jeopardize the integrity of our elections. First is the Save America Act, already passed by the House, this bill requires a birth certificate or passport to register or update one’s voter registration information. The Act not only duplicates laws and processes already in place, but it’s also projected that 20 million eligible voters would not have access to these documents. An estimated 69 million women who have changed their name are projected to face hurdles to voting.
The argument that the Act is needed to prevent immigrants and non-citizens from voting rings hollow. It’s been proven that instances of such attempts are rare, and nowadays non-citizens are concerned about going to the grocery store or work, much less trying to vote in an election.
Lastly, a March 31st Executive Order to unconstitutionally usurp States’ rights by requiring all voter lists to be held federally and directing the postal service not to deliver absentee ballots unless names are on a federal list could wreak chaos roughly 3 months before the first primaries are scheduled. Michigan joins 24 attorneys general and governors in suing for their rights.
States’ responsibility for running elections is an important part of the picture. The constitutional decentralization of our voting system, as well as the reach to voters everywhere through absentee voting, provide critical structural checks and balances against fraud.
Efforts to suppress voting feel un-American.
Lynn Kellogg is former CEO of Region IV Area Agency on Aging in Southwest Michigan. Questions on age or independence services? Call the Info-Line for Aging & Disability at 800-654-2810 or visit areaagencyonaging.org. The Generations column appears each weekend in The Herald-Palladium.