Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020

The ease of voting across the United States is constantly changing. This research updates work which established the relative "cost of voting" during presidential election cycles, in each of the 50 states, from 1996 to 2016. The 2020 iteration takes into account the recent adoption of automatic voter registration processes, expansion of early voting, new absentee voting laws, and the elimination of polling stations in some states. We learn that Oregon, which has one of the most progressive automatic voter registration processes and mail-in voting, maintains the first position as the easiest state in which to vote. Texas falls to 50th, in part because it does not keep pace with reforms like online voter registration and no excuse absentee voting, which have taken place in most other states. Voters in both Michigan and Virginia will find voting more hassle free in 2020 because of changes to both voter registration and balloting processes that have occurred since 2016.