Before 1980, every state in the U.S. offered absentee ballots, but they were available for use by a relatively small group of citizens. At that time, they were primarily used only by travelers, ,the elderly, voters who were ill, hospitalized, or incapacitated, college students living away from home, and military and other overseas citizens. 1
Today, absentee voting by mail has greatly expanded and a number of states hold their elections entirely by mail. The ways in which states track, verify and tabulate mailed ballots varies significantly. Variances exists in the processes for voters to request the ballots, procedures for verifying the voters' signatures or other identifying information, and the use of ballot drop boxes, as well as the deadlines for election officials to accept returned ballots.
As part of our "Field Guide to American Elections", we are examining the election practices being used in each state at the local level, where elections are actually held, canvassed and counted by local election officials across the country, particularly in comparison to the new Guidelines issued by the federal Election Assistance Commission in July.
This article examines the security and protocols surrounding Ballot Drop Boxes.
The EAC's New Election Management Guidelines (EMG)
The federal Election Assistance Commission IEAC) has issued a number of publications on these issues since the 2020 election, but recently, in July 2023, published it's updated Election Management Guidelines (EMG), which are intended to provide guidance to state and local election officials on the conduct of elections. Those new Guidelines can be found at https://www.eac.gov/election-officials/election-management-guidelines.
Ballot Drop Boxes- EAC's Recommended Practices
For ballot drop boxes being used in numerous states, EAC Guidelines, at page 80, state:
"A team of two election workers (preferably bipartisan) should transfer the voted ballots to a locked or sealed ballot box, bag, or pouch and deliver it to the elections office. On Election Day, election workers should monitor the drop box locations until the close of the polls or the deadline for ballot receipt. Two election workers (preferably bipartisan) should be assigned to lock each drop box location, collect all remaining ballots, and ensure the drop box is removed or cannot accept any additional ballots after the deadline."
The EAC's Quick Start Guide for Ballot Drop Boxes, which is a companion to the EMG's (found at www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/electionofficials/QuickStartGuides/Ballot_Drop_Boxes_EAC_Quick_Start_Guide_508.pdf), states:
"Teams of two (preferably bipartisan) should empty each drop box at least once a day."
"Election officials must ensure teams are present at each drop box as the ballot return deadline passes. Teams must allow any voters in line by the deadline to deposit their ballots, then collect all ballots, and lock the box so no additional ballots can be deposited."
Are States that Use Ballot Drop Boxes Following the EAC's Guidance? Are the Boxes Checked and the Ballots Collected at Least Once a Day? Do the State Laws Require Poll Workers to be Present to Close the Boxes when the Polls Close?
California
California law does not require ballots to be retrieved at least once a day.
According to the California Secretary of State's website,https://www.sos.ca.gov/administration/regulations/current-regulations/elections/vote-mail-ballot-drop-boxes-and-drop-locations#2013, the following provisions apply:
Ballots shall be retrieved from drop boxes at times determined by the elections official, but shall be subject to the following:
Ballots shall be retrieved from both staffed and unstaffed drop boxes at least every 96 hours, excluding Saturdays and Sundays, between the 29th day before the election and the 10th day before an election.
Ballots shall be retrieved from staffed drop boxes at least every 72 hours, excluding Saturdays and Sundays, after the 10th day before the election through the closing of the polls on Election Day. The elections official shall develop procedures for contacting locations of staffed drop boxes between ballot retrieval periods to determine if an additional retrieval is needed.
Ballots shall be retrieved from unstaffed drop boxes every 48 hours, excluding Saturdays and Sundays, hours after the 10th day prior to an election through the closing of the polls on Election Day.
Colorado
Colorado Conducts All Mail Ballot Elections. It Requires Pickup Once a Day after Early Voting Starts, and twice on Election Day.
Colorado's 8 CCR 1505-1 Rules Concerning Elections - as adopted 3/31/2023 and effective 5/30/2023, Rule 7 2 provides:
7.4.5 The county clerk must arrange for the collection of ballots by bipartisan teams, of election judges and/or staff, from each drop box location once it is open and receive the ballots into SCORE:
(a) If applicable, at least once every 72 hours after non-UOCAVA ballots are mailed until the date that voter service and polling centers must open;
(b) If applicable, at least once every 24 hours during the days that voter service and polling centers must be open; and
(c) At least twice on election day, at approximately 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Florida
Florida Limits the Use of Drop Boxes. It Requires In-Person Monitoring of All Drop Boxes and Limits Use of Boxes Away from Polling Places to Early Voting Hours
The Florida Report by the Department of State On Vote-By-Mail Voting – Security, Privacy and Election Transparency, prepared by the Florida Department of State pursuant to Section 31 of Chapter 2022-73, Laws of Florida February 1, 2023,3 states:
The secure ballot intake stations (formerly known as drop boxes) were first formally authorized in law in 2019. The law required Supervisors of Elections to provide secure ballot intake stations to be placed at their main office and branch office(s) and at any designated early voting site, and optionally at any other site that would have qualified as an early voting site, provided staff was available.
In 2021, the Florida Legislature added more security measures to the return of voted ballots by,
• Limiting the use of secure ballot intake stations other than at a supervisor’s office to early voting hours, • Requiring in-person monitoring of all secure ballot intake stations while accessible for deposit of ballots,
Georgia
Limits the Use of Drop Boxes to Polling Locations and Requires them to be Closed When Voting Is Not in Progress
On August 18 of this year, the Georgia Secretary of State's office issued a press release stating, "Today, a federal judge upheld key portions of Georgia’s Election Integrity Act, including provisions that ban ballot harvesting and require common sense security rules for absentee ballot drop boxes." 4
Georgia's Election Code, Section 21-2-382 governs drop boxes and provides:
Drop boxes established pursuant to this Code section shall be established at the office of the board of registrars or absentee ballot clerk or inside locations at which advance voting, as set forth in subsection (d) of Code Section 21-2-385, is conducted in the applicable primary, election, or runoff and may be open during the hours of advance voting at that location. Such drop boxes shall be closed when advance voting is not being conducted at that location. All drop boxes shall be closed when the advance voting period ends, as set forth in subsection (d) of Code Section 21-2-385
(3) The board of registrars or absentee ballot clerk shall arrange for the collecting and return of ballots deposited at each drop box at the conclusion of each day where advance voting takes place. Collection of ballots from a drop box shall be made by a team of at least two people. Any person collecting ballots from a drop box shall have sworn an oath in the same form as the oath for poll officers set forth in Code Section 21-2-95.
Hawaii
Hawaii refers to any such boxes as "places of deposit" and generally leaves the details of the collection of ballots and closing of the box to the county clerk.
§3-177-506 Places of deposit; generally. (a) The clerk may designate and provide for places of deposit to be open five business days before the election until 7:00 p.m. on the day of the election; provided that the locations and apparatus for receiving voted ballots can be securely maintained during the period of use for each election as may be permitted by the operational hours. (b) To the extent that places of deposit, due to a need to address security or operational hours, cannot be open uniformly across the county, the clerk shall document· the reasons for such a variation in its operation. Upon a finding by the clerk that it is in the interest of the voters of a county to operate a proposed place of deposit. or to continue to operate an existing place of deposit; the clerk may do so, so long as appropriate notice to the public is provided of any variation in operation of the place of deposit.
For example, if due to a lack of available personnel, shortage of facilities that can be used for five business days, security matters, or similar reasons a modified schedule or modified services to be provided may be considered by the clerk.
(c) The clerk shall account for the security of the places of deposit and the ballots cast at such locations.
Illinois
Illinois state law requires that the ballots be collected from drop boxes each day, but does not specify the need for bipartisan teams of two election workers.
The Illinois Election Code, Article19 on Voting by Mail, Section 19-6 provides:
Election authorities may maintain one or more secure collection sites for the postage-free return of vote by mail ballots. Any election authority with collection sites shall collect all ballots returned each day and process them as required by this Code, including noting the day on which the ballot was collected. Ballots returned to such collection sites after close of business shall be dated as delivered the next day, with the exception of ballots delivered on election day, which shall be dated as received on election day. Election authorities shall permit electors to return vote by mail ballots at any collection site it has established through the close of polls on election day. All collection sites shall be secured by locks that may be opened only by election authority personnel. The State Board of Elections shall establish additional guidelines for the security of collection sites. 5
Iowa
Iowa requires drop boxes to be emptied four times a day during voting.
The Iowa Administrative Code, Section 721—21.307(53) provides:
21.307(2)Absentee ballot retrieval. Materials delivered to the ballot drop box shall be retrieved in an expeditious manner, but no less often than four times per day on days in which voters may deposit a voted ballot in the ballot drop box. The ballot drop box does not need to be checked on days in which voters are unable to deposit materials into the drop box.
Kentucky
Kentucky complies with the Guidelines issued by the EAC by requiring the boxes to be emptied at least once a day and requires a bi-partisan team of two people. The statute and the administrative regulations do not appear to contain procedures for closing the boxes precisely at the close of voting.
Kentucky Revised Statutes, Section 117.086(2)(e), found at https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes, provides:
(e) Each receptacle or drop-box shall be emptied by the county clerk and at least one (1) member of the county board of elections or one (1) member of the central ballot counting board if one is appointed, who is not of the same political affiliation as the county clerk at least once each business day or more frequently, as needed, to reasonably secure and accommodate the volume of the voter-delivered mail-in absentee ballots. The ballots deposited in the drop-box or receptacle shall be removed with a record of the date and time ballots were removed, and the names of the persons removing them. If the drop-box or receptacle is located outside the county clerk's office, the ballots shall be returned to the county clerk in locked transport containers, and the county clerk shall transfer the ballots upon receipt in accordance with subsection (3) of this section.
Maine
Maine complies with the EAC Guidelines by requiring that the boxes be emptied at least once a day during the absentee voting period. It allows the boxes to be emptied by teams of two poll workers but does not require bipartisanship, and also allows the clerks to remove the ballots themselves. Maine does require that the ballots be retrieved at 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Maine Statutes, Title 21, Section 752-B(8) provides:
8. Periodic retrieval of ballots. During the absentee voting period, the municipal clerk or a team of 2 people designated by the clerk shall periodically remove absentee ballots from each secured drop box and deliver the absentee ballots to the clerk's office to be stored in a secure manner. At a minimum, absentee ballots must be removed from each secured drop box by the clerk or team of 2 designees:
A. At least once on each day that the clerk's office is open during the absentee voting period; [PL 2021, c. 273, §12 (NEW).]
B. At all additional times necessary to ensure that additional absentee ballots deposited in the secured drop box fit within the secured collection box and are not accessible to unauthorized persons; and [PL 2021, c. 273, §12 (NEW).]
C. At 8 p.m. on election day. [PL 2021, c. 273, §12 (NEW).]
The identity of the persons who remove the absentee ballots from each secured drop box and the date and time that the absentee ballots are removed must be recorded on a form designed by the Secretary of State and initialed or signed by the clerk or team of 2 designees who removed the absentee ballots.
[PL 2021, c. 273, §12 (NEW).] (emphasis in original)6
Maryland
Maryland requires daily removal of the ballots from the drop boxes, but the statutes leave the ballot chain of custody procedures to the State Board of Elections. Additional chain of custody procedures for ballot drop boxes do not appear to be contained in the regulations adopted by the State Board of Elections in Md. Code Regs. 33.11.03.06.
Maryland Code, § 2-305. Security measures for ballot drop boxes — Daily removal of election-related materials — Chain of custody procedures, provides:
(a) (1) A local board shall ensure the security of ballot drop boxes, including through the use of the following:
(i) monitoring by security cameras at all times; and
(ii) periodic in-person visits by appropriate personnel.
(2) A local board shall have immediate access or access within a reasonable amount of time to a security camera used for monitoring a ballot drop box under paragraph (1)(i) of this subsection.
(b) (1) Except as otherwise provided in law, a local board shall remove the election-related materials from each ballot drop box at least once each day that the ballot drop box is open in accordance with the chain of custody procedures established in accordance with paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(2) The State Board shall establish chain of custody procedures governing removal of election-related materials from ballot drop boxes and the return of the materials to the local board.
History 2021, ch. 56, § 1; ch. 514, § 1. 7
Massachusetts
Massachusetts law contains a reference to the use of a "secured municipal drop box," without additional statutory provisions.
Section 92 (a)
(a) A voter who receives the ballot by mail, as provided in subsection (a) of section ninety-one B, may return it by mail to the city or town clerk in the envelope provided pursuant to subsection (d) of section 87; via a secured municipal drop box, where provided; or such voter or a family member may deliver it in person to the office of the city or town clerk. A voter to whom a ballot was delivered in person at the office of the clerk as provided in said subsection (a) of said section ninety-one B shall return it without removing the ballot from such office.
Michigan
Michigan law requires the drop boxes to be emptied daily, but does not require teams of two of poll workers. Instead, the clerk, deputy clerk or a sworn member of the clerks' staff must collect the ballots.
The Michigan Code of Laws Annotated, Section 168.761d provides:
(3) Only a city or township clerk, the clerk's deputy clerk, or a sworn member of the clerk's staff is authorized to collect absent voter ballots from an absent voter ballot drop box.
...
(5) Beginning 15 days before each election and until election day, an individual who is authorized under subsection (3) must collect, on any day in which the city or township clerk's office is open for business, the election materials deposited in an absent voter ballot drop box located in the city or township.
(6) When an individual who is authorized under subsection (3) collects absent voter ballot return envelopes from an absent voter ballot drop box, that individual must, unless traveling from 1 absent voter ballot drop box to another absent voter ballot drop box, immediately return those collected absent voter ballot return envelopes to the city or township clerk's office.
(7) All absent voter ballot return envelopes collected from an absent voter ballot drop box must be transported in a ballot container approved under section 24j or in an absent voter ballot secrecy envelope container as described in section 24k.
History: Add. 2020, Act 177, Imd. Eff. Oct. 6, 2020 ;-- Am. 2022, Act 195, Imd. Eff. Oct. 7, 2022 8
Minnesota
Minnesota does required daily collection of ballots, but does not require bi-partisan teams of two. It requires the county auditor, municipal clerk or other elections official to collect the ballots.
Minnesota Statutes Annotated, M.S.A. § 203B.082, Subdivision 2(6), provides:
deposited ballots must be collected at least once per business day during the absentee voting period by the county auditor, municipal clerk, or an elections official trained by the county auditor or municipal clerk in the proper maintenance and handling of absentee ballots and absentee ballot drop boxes, and in the security measures used to protect absentee ballots; 9
Nebraska
Nebraska law requires that the drop boxes be emptied once a day, but does not require bi-partisan teams of two poll workers.
Nebraska Revised Statute 32-950.01, provides
(4) After a secure ballot drop-box is made available for depositing ballots, the election commission or county clerk shall ensure that ballots deposited in such secure ballot drop-box are collected and returned to the office of the election commissioner or county clerk at least once during each business day. 10
Nevada
Nevada statutes requires teams of two, which, if practicable, must be of different political parties. It provides that ballots must be collected "frequently" but does not specify the hourly or daily frequency.
Nev. Admin. Code § 293.352 - Establishment and duties of retrieval team to collect and transport mail ballots to receiving center or central counting place, adopted in 2022, provides:
1. The county clerk shall establish and use a retrieval team to collect and transport mail ballots from the ballot drop boxes established in the county to the receiving center or to the central counting place, as directed by the county clerk. If necessary, the county clerk may use multiple retrieval teams to collect and transport the mail ballots.
2. A retrieval team shall be composed of at least two persons. If a ballot drop box is established within a polling place, the retrieval team must, if practicable, be composed of two members of the election board who are of differing political parties.
3. A retrieval team must frequently collect mail ballots from the ballot drop boxes established in the county beginning on the date that the mail ballots are issued and ending at the close of the polls on election day and as prescribed by subsection 4 or 5.
4. If there is a line of persons waiting to submit a mail ballot to the ballot drop box at the close of the polls on election day, a retrieval team shall:
(a) Hand the last person in line at the close of polls a card prepared by the county clerk that states "Last Person in Line"; and
(b) Refrain from collecting and transporting the mail ballots in the ballot drop box until the time that the person holding the card described in paragraph (a) has submitted the mail ballot.
5. If there is not a line of persons waiting to submit a mail ballot to the ballot drop box at the close of the polls on election day, the retrieval team shall immediately collect and transport the mail ballots.
6. Each retrieval team shall, on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State, submit to the Secretary of State, a description of the chain of custody of the mail ballots collected and transported by the retrieval team.
Added to NAC by Sec'y of State by R093-21A, eff. 2/28/2022 11
New Jersey
New Jersey's guidelines provide for ballot retrieval schedules to ensure ballot security and efficient processing, which may include collecting ballots multiple times per day. New Jersey requires bi-partisan teams of two to collect the ballots, and requires teams to be on-site to close the boxes when the polls close on Election Day.
The New Jersey Guide to Ballot Drop Box, Updated September 16, 2022, found at https://nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/guidelines/2022-0916-ballot-drop-box-guide.pdf, provides the following:
Frequency of Retrieval Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 19:63-16.1b(1), county boards of elections may create ballot drop box retrieval schedules, consistent with these guidelines, which ensure ballot security and that ballots can enter your processing operation as quickly as possible. The structure of your retrieval plan should anticipate a slowly building stream of ballots. Jurisdictions have seen as few as 20% of ballots cast by mail deposited in drop boxes during the first two weeks and as many as 55%–60% of ballots deposited during the two days immediately preceding the Election Day. You may need to retrieve ballots multiple times per day from your busier ballot drop boxes the closer you get to and on Election Day. Other important items to consider when creating your retrieval plan:
Your plan needs to be flexible. If voter turnout is higher than anticipated, you may need to retrieve ballots more often than you had planned.
On the Monday evening before Election Day, you must retrieve ballots from all drop boxes at the end of the day so they do not fill overnight and to maximize the number of ballots you can count on Election Day.
On Election Night, you must close all drop boxes simultaneously with closing the polls. This will take significant staffing and coordination as these two-person teams will need to be bipartisan. The use of Municipal Clerks and their staff is recommended to assist, especially for those drop boxes located at municipal buildings.
It is important to track as much data about this process as possible. Retain it for future planning, including the frequency of retrievals from each drop box, how many ballots you retrieve from each drop box each retrieval, and how many retrieval runs were needed to each drop box each day. This data can be obtained from ballot logs and reviewed after the election.
The Collection of Ballots from Drop Boxes Only the designated, two-person, bipartisan ballot retrieval teams should remove from the drop box and lock and seal the interior ballot storage containers.
Election Night Closing All ballot drop boxes must be closed at the time the polls close on Election Day. The instructions can be supplemented with the Election Night Closing Checklist that follows. Station a two-person, bipartisan team at each drop box 15 minutes before the polls close. They will lock the drop box ballot slots as soon as the polls close and if possible, retrieve ballots.
New Mexico:
New Mexico does not require daily ballot removal, requiring ballots to be retrieved every 3 days. It does not require bi-partisan teams of two, and provides that the ballots are retrieved by county staff, an election board member or an appointed messenger. The statutes and administrative code do not provide a process to close the boxes at 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.
1.10.19.13 BALLOT RETRIEVAL PROCEDURES:
A. Pursuant to Paragraph (5) of Subsection E of Section 1-6-9 NMSA 1978, the county clerk, deputy county clerk, election board member or an appointed messenger shall collect the ballots from a secured container. One or more deputy county clerks may be hired by the county clerk on a temporary basis to fulfill this requirement for the time period in which a secured container is available for use. Only personnel designated to retrieve the ballots may transport the retrieved ballots.
B. The county clerk shall provide the approximate time the ballots will be collected from a secured container. Ballots shall be collected at least once every three days beginning 28 days prior to election day through 7:00 P.M. on election day.
Oregon
Oregon's Vote by Mail Procedures Manual, https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/Documents/vbm_manual.pdf, provides that "if more than one person picks up or transports ballots", they should be bi-partisan. It does require teams to be present at drop boxes at 8 p.m. on Election Day when the polls close.
Oregon's Vote by Mail Procedures manual provides:
Designate personnel to transport ballots
1 Designate personnel authorized to pick up ballots from dropsites. → Only authorized personnel may transport the ballots to the elections office.
→ If more than one person picks up or transports ballots, it is recommended that they are not members of the same political party.
2 On Election Day, ensure authorized personnel are available at dropsites to determine that everyone in line at 8 pm is allowed to deposit ballots. 3 Consider transporting ballots by law enforcement personnel or deputized personnel.
Utah
Utah does require monitoring of the drop boxes at the close of the polls on Election Day, and does require the ballots to be removed by teams of two poll workers. The statutes do not specify how often the boxes must be emptied.
20A-3a-204. Marking and depositing ballots.
(b) Except as provided in Subsection (2)(c), to be valid, a ballot shall, before the polls close on election day, be deposited in:
(i) a ballot box at a polling place; or
(ii) a ballot drop box designated by an election officer for the jurisdiction to which the ballot relates.
(c) An election officer may, but is not required to, forward a ballot deposited in a ballot drop box in the wrong jurisdiction to the correct jurisdiction.
(d) An election officer shall ensure that a voter who is, at or before 8 p.m., in line at a ballot drop box, with a sealed return envelope containing a ballot in the voter's possession, to deposit the ballot in the ballot drop box.
Effective May, 2022 13
20A-5-403.5. Ballot drop boxes -- Notice (effective May, 2023): provides:
(6) An election officer may, at any time, authorize two or more poll workers to remove a ballot drop box from a location, or to remove ballots from a ballot drop box for processing.
(7) (a) At least two poll workers must be present when a poll worker collects ballots from a ballot drop box and delivers the ballots to the location where the ballots will be opened and counted.
(b) An election officer shall ensure that the chain of custody of ballots placed in a ballot box are recorded and tracked from the time the ballots are removed from the ballot box until the ballots are delivered to the location where the ballots will be opened and counted.
Amended by Chapter 45, 2023 General Session 14
Vermont
Vermont's statutes provide for drop boxes to be used, but does not contain provisions for collecting the ballots or closing the boxes at the close of the polls on Election Day.
17 V.S.A. § 2543a, provides:
§ 2543a. Provision of secure ballot drop boxes
(e)(1) Ballots may be deposited in the drop boxes until the close of business on the day before the election. At the close of business, the drop box shall be closed and instructions affixed to the drop box instructing the voter to return the voter’s voted ballot to the polling place on the day of the election.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (1) of this subsection, a board of civil authority may vote to allow ballots to be deposited in the drop boxes until not later than the closing of the polls on election day. 15
Virginia
Virginia requires collection of ballots at least daily, by teams of two, who are to be bi-partisan "where practicable", and requires teams to be at each drop box location at 7 p.m on Election Day to collect the ballots and close the box.
The Code of Virginia,§ 24.2-707.1. Drop-off locations for return of absentee ballots, provides, in Subsection (D):
D. Absentee ballots shall be collected from drop-off locations in accordance with the instructions provided by the Department. Such instructions shall include chain of custody requirements and recordkeeping requirements. Absentee ballots shall be collected at least daily by (i) two officers of election or electoral board members representing the two major political parties where practicable or (ii) two employees from the office of the general registrar, unless the drop-off location is in the office of the general registrar, in which case the general registrar or a deputy general registrar may collect the absentee ballots.
2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 471, 522; 2022, c. 140.16
Additionally, Virginia's STANDARDS FOR THE OPERATION OF DROP-OFF LOCATIONS (FROM CHAPTER 7 OF THE GENERAL REGISTRAR AND ELECTORAL BOARD HANDBOOK), provides that on Election Day:
3. At each polling place, and each drop-box, the two mandatory officers of election, electoral board members, or employees must be at the drop-off location at 7 pm to collect the final cast ballots. Any person in line to drop-off their ballot at 7 pm is allowed to do so.17
Washington
Washington State has both manned and unmanned drop boxes. For unmanned drop boxes, they must be emptied often enough to "prevent overflow." The ballots must be removed by teams of at least two people and must be closed at secured at 8 p.m on Election Day. If only one person (instead of a team) close the box, additional security measures are provided.
The Revised Code of Washington 29A.40.170, provides:
Ballot drop boxes.
(1) The county auditor must prevent overflow of each ballot drop box to allow a voter to deposit his or her ballot securely. Ballots must be removed from a ballot drop box by at least two people, with a record kept of the date and time ballots were removed, and the names of people removing them. Ballots from drop boxes must be returned to the counting center in secured transport containers. A copy of the record must be placed in the container, and one copy must be transported with the ballots to the counting center, where the seal number must be verified by the county auditor or a designated representative. All ballot drop boxes must be secured at 8:00 p.m. on the day of the primary, special election, or general election.18
In addition, the Washington Administrative Code provides:
(2) Unstaffed ballot deposit sites consist of secured ballot boxes that allow return envelopes, once deposited, to only be removed by authorized staff or appointees. Ballot boxes located outdoors must be constructed of durable material able to withstand inclement weather, and be sufficiently secured to the ground or another structure to prevent their removal. Unstaffed ballot deposit sites must accept ballots beginning eighteen days prior to election day until 8:00 p.m. on election day. The county auditor must empty each ballot box with sufficient frequency to prevent damage and unauthorized access to the ballots.
(3) Unstaffed ballot boxes must be locked and sealed in the manner described in WAC 434-261-045. At exactly 8:00 p.m. on election day, all unstaffed ballot boxes must be emptied or secured to prevent the deposit of additional ballots. The box must be closed and secured by one or two people. One person may secure an unstaffed ballot box only if:
(a) The person does not have access to the deposited ballots; and
(b) Before sealing the deposit slot, the person records the seal number on a log and places the log inside the ballot box. The slot is then closed and secured with the numbered seal; and (c) A team of two removes the ballots from the box and verifies the seal and log. The county auditor shall remove the deposited ballots and transport them to the counting center by either:
(i) Two employees of or two persons appointed by the county auditor; or
(ii) Secured transport carrier containing ballots removed and sealed by two employees of or two persons appointed by the county auditor. Sealed transport carriers may be delivered to the counting center by one person. Ballots shall be secured in this manner when transported by vehicle.
(4) Any voter who is in line at 8:00 p.m. at a ballot deposit site must be allowed to deposit his or her ballot.
(5) If county auditor staff are present at a ballot deposit site, the county auditor must accept late ballots and refer them to the canvassing board. When a ballot deposit site is secured by one person, a second deposit receptacle, sealed and logged in the county auditor's office, must be provided to serve as a receptacle for late ballots.19
Footnote 1 Forner, John C., Absentee and Early Voting Trends, Promises, and Perils (2006), pg. 1
Footnote 2 www.coloradosos.gov/pubs/rule_making/CurrentRules/8CCR1505-1/Rule7.pdf
Footnote 3 https://files.floridados.gov/media/706253/dept-of-state-report-vote-by-mail-system-20230201.pdf
Footnote 4 https://sos.ga.gov/news/court-continues-uphold-core-georgias-election-integrity-act
Footnote 5 https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=001000050HArt%2E+19&ActID=170&ChapterID=3&SeqStart=70300000&SeqEnd=72900000
Footnote 6 https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/21-A/title21-Asec752-B.html
Footnote 7 https://elections.maryland.gov/laws_and_regs/regulations.html
Footnote 8 http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(vyyr11elhdfrpltlgr0jza4q))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-168-761d
Footnote 9 https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/203B.082
Footnote 10 https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=32-951
Footnote 11 https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/nevada/NAC-293-35
Footnote 12 https://www.sos.nm.gov/legislation-and-lobbying/legal-resources/nm-administrative-rules/
Footnote 13 https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title20A/Chapter3A/20A-3a-S204.html
Footnote 14 https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title20A/Chapter5/20A-5-S403.5.html
Footnote 15 https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/17/051/02543a
Footnote 16 https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title24.2/chapter7/section24.2-707.1
Footnote 17 https://www.elections.virginia.gov/media/election-security/2022-Standards-for-Absentee-Ballot-Drop-off-Locations.pdf
Footnote 18 https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=29A.40.170
Footnote 19 https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=434-250-100&pdf=true