Mail-In Ballot Curing Research Project Instructions
Project Overview:
About VoteRiders
VoteRiders is the country’s leading nonpartisan organization focused on the critical issue of voter ID. Our mission is to eliminate ID barriers to the ballot box so every eligible voter can cast a ballot that counts. We inform communities about ID laws, equip partner organizations to expand voting access, advocate for pro-voter policies, and provide free one-on-one help to individuals to secure an accepted form of ID to vote.
About L4GG
Lawyers for Good Government is a community of 125,000 lawyers, law students, and activists fighting to ensure equal rights, equal opportunities and equal justice under the law. We coordinate large scale pro bono programs and engage in advocacy and policy work, seeking not only to establish and enforce equality under the law, but to also create the social and economic conditions that lead to true equity.
About the Project
As part of its voter education work, VoteRiders needs to update resources on how, if allowed under state law, a voter who voted by mail may cure their ballot that was not counted due to a signature mismatch, failure to include required ID information, or failure to include a required copy of their ID. We need to survey all 50 states and DC.
VoteRiders has some info on its state pages (webpages on each individual state’s voter ID laws) but needs to update it or add the information if it is missing on the state page.
Background Information
Mail-in-voting may be called different things in different states. For example, these ballots may be called “absentee voting by mail”, “absentee voting”, “mail-in ballot”, etc. etc. It is important that what you are researching and analyzing covers the act of voting that is not the act of voting in-person at a polling location. So this includes voting via mail, fax, dropping off your ballot at a drop box, or having someone else drop off your ballot to the precinct or drop box.
Instructions for Participating Attorneys:
Attend the Training
The training will be held on Tuesday, October 6 at 12-1 pm ET / 9 am-10 pm PT on Zoom and will be recorded for anyone who cannot attend.
Review the Research Questions
Before accessing the form, we recommend that you review the research questions at the bottom of this document.
Conduct Your Research
We have provided research tools for you to use below.
When using secondary sources, please make sure to confirm the current law with primary sources, as sometimes they are inaccurate or out of date.
Our priority states are the following: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. If you have been assigned any of these states, please start with them first.
Suggested research process:
Please find the actual statutes and/or regulation(s) that codified the information we are looking for.
Consult our state page on the state you are researching: Check Your State Rules - VoteRiders.
If the information is already there, you must double check that the information is still accurate, by using the below steps.
If the information is not on our state pages, skip to the below bullet.
Go to Justia to find the state law’s section on elections.
Figure out how the state refers to mail-in-voting. Use the term provided by the state to help you look.
Locate the exact provision that answers the questions posed in the online form.
Oftentimes, you will come across provisions that direct how a state may address a mail ballot that needs to be cured. We are looking for provisions that directly address how a voter may cure their mail ballot.
If you are unable to find the exact provision, try to get at the answer using other provisions.
Continue to dig using state agency websites for their regulations or proposals.
If you are still unable to find the information, look through the secondary sources or use Google to find the information.
If you are able to find the information on a secondary source, track down the cite from a primary source.
If you are still unable to find the answer, you can try calling the state agency directly and ask them to direct you to an applicable agency resource containing the answer. Please share the sources and any conclusion you have come to so far.
NOTE: You may come across information from our old website (legacy.voteriders.org). Please do not use any of the information from it, as the info may be outdated.
Compile Your Research
We recommend that during the legal research process, you gather your findings in a Word or Google document prior to completing the online form.
Citations
Whenever discussing any laws, regulations, or cases in your responses, please provide a link to the citation in Justia. We ask that any citations to statute are linked to Justia - if you find the citation or case in Westlaw or Lexis, please then search for it in Justia to provide a publicly available link. VoteRiders does not have Westlaw/Lexis access, and this also allows us to easily add the research to public facing materials for our community.
Submit Your Research
Once you have completed your research, please copy and paste your findings into the corresponding fields using this online form.
Please check your answers for accuracy before pressing “Submit.”
Note: L4GG strongly prefers that a single attorney be responsible for filling out one form per state.
Please submit the completed form online by Wednesday, October 14.
Questions? Email Legal@Voteriders.org.
Tools:
As you conduct your research, we recommend you consult the following resources:
Primary Sources
Your Westlaw or Lexis account. We request that you do all research in your Westlaw or Lexis Account. These are the most accurate and up-to-date, and importantly include references to the relevant case law and often regulations.
Justia. This is a publicly available resource for the state codes of each jurisdiction. However, it does not include Westlaw or Lexis’s keycite or red flags to show if there is superseding case law.
State agency websites
State election agency (usually Secretary of State's office, but varies by state)
Look into state agency websites to locate regulations and rules
Secondary Sources
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
(PLEASE REMEMBER TO INCLUDE CITATIONS AND LINKS WHEN AVAILABLE FOR EACH OF YOUR ANSWERS)
For your assigned state, please answer the following questions:
What is the mail-ballot deadline(s) to cure ID issues?
Please cite to statutes and/or regs regarding the mail-ballot deadline(s) to cure ID issues.
Please provide direct quotes from the statutes or regs regarding the mail-ballot deadline(s) to cure ID issues.
How may a voter cure their ballot if the issue with ID is the reason for the ballot not being counted?
Please cite to statutes and/or regs regarding how a voter may cure their ballot if the issue with ID is the reason for the ballot not being counted.
Please provide direct quotes from the statutes or regs regarding how a voter may cure their ballot if the issue with ID is the reason for the ballot not being counted.
How may a voter cure their ballot if their ballot was not counted due to an issue with their signature?
Please cite to statutes and/or regs regarding how a voter may cure their ballot if their ballot was not counted due to an issue with their signature.
Please provide direct quotes from the statutes or regs regarding how a voter may cure their ballot if their ballot was not counted due to an issue with their signature.
What is the mail-ballot deadline to cure signature issues?
Please cite to statutes and/or regs regarding the mail-ballot deadline to cure signature issues.
Please provide direct quotes from the statutes or regs regarding the mail-ballot deadline to cure signature issues.
Once you have completed your research, please submit your responses (with citations/links) using this online form. Thank you for contributing to this important project.