Absentee ballot
An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable to attend the official polling station to which the voter is normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postal voting, proxy voting and online voting. Increasing the ease of access to absentee ballots is seen by many as one way to improve voter turnout through convenience voting, though some countries require that a valid reason, such as infirmity or travel, be given before a voter can participate in an absentee ballot. Early voting overlaps with absentee voting. Early voting includes votes cast before the official election day, by mail, online or in-person at voting centers which are open for the purpose. Some places call early in-person voting a form of "absentee" voting, since voters are absent from the polling place on election day.
In the electoral terminology of some countries, such as Australia, "absentee voting" means specifically a vote cast at a different polling station to one to which the voter has been allocated. "Early voting", "proxy voting" or "postal voting" are separate concepts in these countries. The history of absentee voting dates back to the 19th century, and modern-day procedures and availability vary by jurisdiction. Absentee voting may be available on demand, or limited to individuals meeting certain criteria, such as a proven inability to travel to a designated polling place. Many electors are required to apply for absentee voting, although some may receive a postal ballot by default. In some elections postal voting is the only voting method allowed and is referred to as all-postal voting. Typically, postal votes must be mailed back on or before the scheduled election day. However, in some jurisdictions return methods may allow for dropping off the ballot in person via secure drop boxes or at voting centers.
Electoral laws typically allow for the integrity and secrecy of the submitted ballot to be maintained, and stipulate a series of checks to protect against voter fraud. Voting at a distant polling place is subject to the same controls as voting locally, though distant staff are less likely to recognize an impersonator than local staff. Voting by mail is sometimes controlled by using security printing, such as special paper, or by requiring signatures of voters and sometimes witnesses, though signature comparisons have 10-14% error rates. Thousands of ballots fail these checks and are rejected. Evidence of fraud is uncommon, but Russia has been reported to use absentee voting for vote monitoring enabling voter intimidation. While postal voting has a greater risk of fraud than in-person voting, on an absolute level cases of known fraud are extremely rare. The principle of secret ballot might be violated before the ballot is submitted.
Methods
Voting at a different polling station
Among countries where voters are allocated to one or several specific polling station, some countries provide a mechanism by which voters can nevertheless cast their ballots on election day at a different polling station.The reasons for allocating voters to specific polling stations are generally logistical. Absentee voting at a different polling station might be catered for by, for example, designating some larger polling stations as available for absentee voting, and equipping such polling stations with the ballot papers applicable to an absentee voter.
Postal voting
In a postal vote, the ballot papers are posted out to the voter – usually only on request – who must then fill them out and return them, often with the voter's signature and sometimes a witness signature to prove the voter's identity. Signature verification is an imperfect endeavor; the best academic researchers have 10-14% error rates. Some jurisdictions use special paper, ballot tracking, or printing to minimize forged ballots.All-postal voting
All-postal voting is the form of postal voting where all electors receive their ballot papers through the post, not just those who requested an absentee ballot. Depending on the system applied, electors may have to return their ballot papers by post, or there may be an opportunity to deliver them by hand to a specified location.There is some evidence that this method of voting leads to higher turnout than one where people vote in person or have to apply for a postal vote. Critics suggest that this is only a temporary impact, and that there are dangers in people using ballot papers intended for other electors.
It has been tested by a large number of local authorities in the United Kingdom for their elections, and in 2004 it was used for elections to the European Parliament and local authorities in four of the English regions. In 2016, the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was conducted via all-postal voting with a turnout of 79.5 percent.
Proxy voting
To cast a proxy vote, the user appoints someone as their proxy, by authorizing them to cast or secure their vote in their stead. The proxy must be trusted by the voter, as in a secret ballot there is no way of verifying that they voted for the correct candidate. In an attempt to solve this, it is not uncommon for people to nominate an official of their chosen party as their proxy.Internet voting
Security experts have found security problems in every attempt at online voting,including systems in Australia,
Estonia
Switzerland,
Russia,
and the United States. More information is in the sections for each country below.
Online voting is widely used privately for shareholder votes. The election management companies do not promise accuracy or privacy. In fact one company uses an individual's past votes for research, and to target ads.
By country
Australia
In Australia the term "absentee ballot" refers specifically to the procedure used when a voter attends a voting place which is not in the electoral district in which they are registered to vote. Instead of marking the ballot paper and putting it in the ballot box, the voter's ballot paper is placed in an envelope and then it is sent by the voting official to the voter's home district to be counted there.Postal voting and early voting are separate procedures also available to voters who would not be in their registered electoral districts on a voting day.
At the 2016 Australian federal election, there were 1.2 million postal votes cast, amounting to 8.5 percent of total votes.
Postal voting in Australia was introduced for federal elections in 1902, and first used at the 1903 election. It was abolished by the Fisher government in 1910, following claims that it was open to abuse and biased towards rural voters. The Cook government's bill to restore postal voting was one of the "triggers" for the double dissolution prior to the 1914 election. Postal voting was eventually restored by the Hughes government in 1918 and has not been challenged since, although the provisions and requirements have been amended on a number of occasions.
Prior to Federation in 1901, Western Australia introduced a form of postal voting in 1877 with strict eligibility criteria. South Australia introduced postal voting for seamen in 1890, and a further act in 1896 gave postal votes to any elector who would be more than from home on election day, as well as for any woman unable to travel "by reason of her health". Victoria passed a similar law in 1899, and the first federal postal voting legislation was also modelled on the 1896 South Australian act.
Procedure in Australia
Postal voting at a federal level is governed by the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and administered by the Australian Electoral Commission. Postal votes are available to those who will be absent from their electoral division through travel, or who those are unable to attend a polling booth due to illness, infirmity, "approaching childbirth", caring responsibilities, reasonable fears for their safety, religious beliefs, imprisonment, status as a silent elector, or employment reasons.Eligible voters may make a postal vote application prior to each election, or apply for status as a "general postal voter" and receive a postal ballot automatically. Postal voters receive their ballot and a prepaid envelope containing their name and address, as well as a predetermined security question from the PVA. Voters are required to sign the envelope and provide the correct answer to the security question. They are also required to have a witness sign and date the envelope. As of 2016, postal votes were able to be received and entered into the count up to 13 days after election day. Following the 2016 election, it was observed that the strict scrutiny process afforded to postal votes was a "significant contributor" to delays in declaring the results of close elections.
Austria
Austria enabled postal voting in 2007 by amending Article 26 of the Constitution of Austria. Electors request an electoral card that can be completed in person or in private and sent via post. In the 2017 election, roughly 780,000 postal ballots were cast representing 15% of all ballots.Bangladesh
In the 2026 general election and referendum, the interim government allowed the citizens abroad to vote via postal ballot for the first time in its history.Canada
The ability to vote when in-person voting is not possible was first introduced with the federal Military Voters Act in 1917, giving all Canadian soldiers and their spouses the right to vote. Public servants became eligible in 1970. The right was further extended to civilian support personnel on Canadian Forces bases in the 1977. In 1993, Bill C-114 extended the special ballot vote by mail to all Canadian citizens.Use of special voting rules including vote by mail has grown with each election. In the 42nd general election, the number of voters increased by 117 percent over the previous election to roughly 619,000. This number grew to roughly 660,000 in the 43rd election representing 3.6 percent of electors.