Absentee and early voting. In addition,  some states also allow in-person early voting, as discussed later in  the report. Most States Provided Early or No-Excuse Absentee Voting as Alternatives to Voting on Tuesday in the 2010 General Election

For the November 2010 general election, 35 states and the District  provided voters at least one alternative to casting their ballot on Election  Day through in-person early voting, no-excuse absentee voting, or voting  by mail. As shown in figure 2, 33 states and the District provided in- person early voting, 29 states and the District provided no-excuse  absentee voting, and 2 states provided voting by mail to all or most  voters. Of the nine states and the District where we conducted interviews, all but  two states provided voters the option of in-person early voting in the  November 2010 general election. Five of the seven states and the District  offered both early voting and no-excuse absentee voting. Although the length of the early voting periods  ranged from 7 to 30 days in the states we contacted, five of the seven  states and the District required local jurisdictions to include at least  one Saturday in their early voting period, and two states allowed for  some jurisdiction discretion to include weekend days. Most Election Officials We Interviewed Expect Greater Difficulty and Costs Associated with a Weekend Election

State and local election officials we interviewed about implementing a  weekend election most often identified challenges they would anticipate  facing in planning and conducting Election Day activities—specifically,  finding poll workers and polling places and securing ballots and voting  equipment. Further, officials from 12 jurisdictions and the  District said they would expect poll workers to be less willing or able to  work 2 consecutive days of a weekend election due to fatigue, noting that  many poll workers are elderly. Most Election Officials Expect Difficulty and Some Increased Costs Finding Polling Places for a Weekend Election

Election officials we interviewed in 14 of the 17 local jurisdictions— including 5 jurisdictions with experience conducting elections on a  Saturday—and the District expected that at least some of the polling  places they used in past elections would not be available for a weekend  election, and officials in all of those jurisdictions and the District  anticipated difficulty finding replacements. Most Election Officials Said Ensuring Overnight Security of Ballots and Equipment Would Also Be Challenging and Costly

According to election officials we interviewed in all nine states, the  District, and 15 of the 17 local jurisdictions, ensuring the security of  ballots and voting equipment over the Saturday night of a weekend  election would be both challenging and expensive. Officials we interviewed in 5 of the 7 states and the District that conducted  early voting and provided security over multiple days explained that the  level of planning and challenges needed for overnight security for a  weekend election would be on a scale that would far surpass that of early  voting due to the greater number and variety of polling places used on  Election Day. For example, election officials in one state observed that for  the 2010 general election, the entire state had fewer than 300 early voting  sites compared to more than 2,750 polling places on Election Day, and  the early voting sites were selected with the need for overnight security in  mind. In contrast, Election Day polling places are precinct-based and  generally selected based on factors that include availability and proximity  to voters rather than overnight security. Weekend Elections Have Not Been Studied, but Studies of Other Voting Alternatives Suggest That Voter Turnout May Not Be Strongly Affected

		Limited U.S. Experience with Weekend Elections Makes Evaluating Effect on Voter Turnout Challenging

Because nationwide federal elections have never been held on a  weekend and we could identify few U.S. jurisdictions that have held  weekend elections for state or local offices, it is difficult to draw valid  conclusions about how moving federal elections to a weekend would  affect voter turnout. With the exception of vote by mail, each of  the alternative voting methods we reviewed was estimated to increase or  decrease turnout by no more than 4 percentage points. Turnout Did Not Increase during the Weekend Early Voting Period in Maryland’s 2010 General Election

Our analysis of voter turnout data from the early voting period during the  2010 general election in Maryland showed that voters were not very likely  to vote on the weekend days provided. Of the voters we  analyzed, 1.1 percent cast ballots on the weekend during the early voting  period when they had this option during the primary election, and 1.5  percent of voters did so during the general election. We conducted interviews with  election officials in a nonprobability sample of nine states and the District  of Columbia (District), and a nonprobability sample of 17 local  jurisdictions within those states, about if and how they implemented  alternative voting methods and their views on how election administration  and voter turnout would likely be affected in their state or jurisdiction if the  day for regularly scheduled federal elections were moved to a weekend. “Who Votes  By Mail?
Why GAO Did This Study

Many U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in federal elections do not do so. For instance, in the 2008 general election, about 62 percent of eligible citizens voted. To increase voter turnout by enhancing convenience, some states have implemented alternative voting methods, such as in-person early votingcasting a ballot in person prior to Election Day without providing a reasonand no-excuse absentee votingcasting an absentee ballot, usually by mail, without providing a reason. In general, since 1845, federal law has required that federal elections be held on Tuesday.
The committees on appropriations directed GAO to study and report on costs and benefits of implementing H.R. 254the Weekend Voting Actincluding issues associated with conducting a weekend election. Specifically, this report addresses: (1) alternatives to voting on Tuesday that states provided for the November 2010 general election, (2) how election officials anticipate election administration and costs would be affected if the day for federal elections were moved to a weekend, and (3) what research and available data suggest about the potential effect of a weekend election on voter turnout. GAO reviewed H.R. 254 and analyzed state statutes and early voting turnout in the 2010 Maryland elections, which had early voting over weekdays and weekends. GAO interviewed election officials in nine states, the District of Columbia (District), and 17 local jurisdictions that were selected on the basis of geographic dispersion and experience with weekend voting, among other things. Though not generalizable, the interviews provide insights.

What GAO Found

For the 2010 general election, 35 states and the District provided voters at least one alternative to casting their ballot on Election Day through in-person early voting, no-excuse absentee voting, or voting by mail. Specifically, 33 states and the District provided in-person early voting, 29 states and the District provided no-excuse absentee voting, and 2 states provided voting by mail to all or most voters. Of the 9 states and the District where GAO conducted interviews, all but 2 states provided voters the option of in-person early voting in the 2010 general election, and 5 states and the District offered both early voting and no-excuse absentee voting. Implementation and characteristics of in-person early voting varied among the 7 states and, in some cases, among the jurisdictions within a state. For example, 5 states and the District required local jurisdictions to include at least one Saturday, and 2 states allowed for some jurisdiction discretion to include weekend days.
State and local election officials GAO interviewed identified challenges they would anticipate facing in planning and conducting Election Day activities on weekendsspecifically, finding poll workers and polling places, and securing ballots and voting equipmentand expected cost increases. Officials in all 17 jurisdictions and the District we contacted said they expected the number of poll workers needed for a 2-day weekend election would increase. Further, officials in 13 jurisdictions said that some poll workers would be less willing to work on the weekend because of other priorities, such as family obligations or attending religious services. Officials in 14 of the 17 jurisdictions and the District expected that at least some of the polling places they used in past electionssuch as churcheswould not be available for a weekend election, and anticipated difficulty finding replacements. Officials in all 9 states, the District, and 15 of the 17 local jurisdictions said ensuring the security of ballots and voting equipment over the Saturday night of a weekend election would be both challenging and expensive. Officials in 5 of the 7 states and the District that conducted early voting and provided security over multiple days explained that the level of planning needed for overnight security for a weekend election would far surpass that of early voting due to the greater number and variety of Election Day polling places. For example, officials in one state said that for the 2010 general election, the state had fewer than 300 early voting siteswhich were selected to ensure securitycompared to more than 2,750 polling places on Election Day, which are generally selected based on availability and proximity to voters. In addition, officials in all 9 states, the District, and 15 of the 17 local jurisdictions said they expected overnight security costs to increase.
Weekend elections have not been studied, but studies of other voting alternatives determined that voter turnout is not strongly affected by them. Since nationwide federal elections have never been held on a weekend, it is difficult to draw valid conclusions about how moving federal elections to a weekend would affect voter turnout. GAOs review of 24 studies found that, with the exception of vote by mail, each of the alternative voting methods was estimated to change turnout by no more than 4 percentage points. GAOs analysis of early voter turnout data in Maryland found that 1.5 percent of voters we analyzed cast ballots on the weekend during the 2010 general election.