Accountability
Solutions reporting spurs Maryland vote-by-mail adoption
3/2020
Eric Cortellessa of the Washington Monthly wrote a solutions story about Utah’s vote-by-mail system (https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/april-may-june-2020/how-to-save-elections-from-a-pandemic/), followed by an opinion piece (published in The Washington Post) that focused on Maryland (“Maryland can save its election by letting
people vote at home” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/local-opinions/maryland-can-save-its-election-by-letting-people-vote-at-home/2020/03/19/0c7afe6e-68a3-11ea-9923-57073adce27c_story.html). Maryland then adopted the approach, starting with a small special election. Cortellessa followed up to see what happened, and found that the switch had some success, with turnout increasing 10 percentage points compared with a primary election a few months before (https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/05/14/can-vote-by-mail-work-in-low-income-minority-neighborhoods/).
people vote at home” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/local-opinions/maryland-can-save-its-election-by-letting-people-vote-at-home/2020/03/19/0c7afe6e-68a3-11ea-9923-57073adce27c_story.html). Maryland then adopted the approach, starting with a small special election. Cortellessa followed up to see what happened, and found that the switch had some success, with turnout increasing 10 percentage points compared with a primary election a few months before (https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/05/14/can-vote-by-mail-work-in-low-income-minority-neighborhoods/).