Data Dive: Pre-Processing Mail Ballots

Research by: April Tan, Kyle Upchurch, & Kyle Yoder

Following the 2020 presidential election, the vote counting process lasted days before races could be called in several key battleground states, opening the door to misinformation and unfounded doubts about the integrity of the count. In one of those states, Pennsylvania, officials pointed to their state’s prohibition on pre-processing as a major reason why they couldn’t finalize results earlier.

Processing absentee or mail ballots takes time, and allowing some processing to begin before election day reinforces election integrity and improves administrative efficiency. This earlier processing (sometimes called “pre-processing”) gives election officials more time to detect, investigate, and address potential errors or irregularities before election day. It also affords officials more time to notify voters about ballots in need of curing, to duplicate damaged ballots, and to address any other administrative bottlenecks that may arise. And importantly, pre-processing facilitates timely reporting of election results, which can reduce the window of opportunity for misinformation to spread after election day.

As such, most U.S. states allow some processing of absentee or mail ballots to begin before election day. States that do not authorize pre-processing require officials to wait until election day to begin ballot verification and ballot cure, which risks delaying election results until days after polls close—particularly in states with large number of voters casting a ballot by mail. While specific pre-processing timelines and procedures vary across states, the bipartisan consensus is that beginning to process absentee or mail ballots before election day leads to greater integrity, earlier results, and less room for doubt.

Below, we summarize the timelines that different states use for two key components of absentee or mail ballot processing—envelope processing and ballot scanning. Envelope processing procedures vary from state to state and can include signature verification, sorting envelopes, rejecting improperly executed ballots, and preparing ballots for scanning. For the purposes of the analysis below, we identify the start of envelope processing as the earliest of these tasks authorized or required by the state. Likewise, while some states include the step of scanning ballots into tabulators as a part of processing, others include this step as a part of counting or canvassing. The analysis below considers only the moment in time when ballots are scanned into tabulators and does not include when final counts or results are returned by those tabulators. In both analyses, start dates for envelope processing and ballot scanning are based on the earliest possible times authorized or required in statute or regulation; in instances where there are multiple versions of a statute with different effective dates, we summarize provisions that will be in effect for the 2024 general election. All information is current as of December 13, 2023.

Envelope Processing

As Figure 1 demonstrates, 43 states allow envelope processing to begin before election day. A majority (24) of these states begin envelope processing upon receipt of a ballot. In these states, the envelope processing period depends on when ballots are returned by voters and received by election officials, and therefore largely depends on when ballots are distributed. Only six states restrict envelope processing to election day. Nearly half of states allow local jurisdictions some level of discretion in choosing when to start envelope processing, and a handful of such states set specific parameters for such discretion, which may be impacted by jurisdiction size or approval by an entity such as the State Election Board.

Ballot Scanning

While the vast majority of states allow envelope processing to begin before election day, fewer states permit ballots to be scanned into tabulators prior to the election. Just over half of states allow ballot scanning before election day, provided results are not aggregated until election day. The other 20 states permit ballot scanning to begin only at some point on election day, either before or after polls close. Scanning ballots before election day is generally an authorization not a requirement, though a handful of states (including MD, NY, RI, and VA) require at least some mail ballots to be scanned before election day. Overall, more states allow for local discretion in ballot scanning timelines than envelope processing timelines, with such discretion generally impacted by factors such as jurisdiction size, available computing power, equipment testing procedures, or approval by an entity such as the State Election Board. Often, local jurisdictions that elect to scan ballots before they are required to do so must take certain steps, such as submitting a written public notice in advance, implementing an approved security plan, or making use of bipartisan teams of officials or observers.

Additional Resources

Additional information and perspectives on this topic are available at the following resources:

• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), “Table 16: When Absentee/Mail Ballot Processing and Counting Can Begin,” https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/table-16-when-absentee-mail-ballot-processing-and-counting-can-begin
• Bipartisan Policy Center, “Ballot Pre-processing Policies Explained,’” https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/ballot-pre-processing-explained/

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