Michael McDonald
Professor, University of Florida
Web: United States Elections Project
Twitter: @ElectProject

Last updated: 09/01/2020 11:05 AM Eastern Time

National Statistics

There are a total of 12,623,324 ballot requests in the Reporting states of CO, FL, IL, NC, OH (partial), PA, and SC.

Scroll down for more state statistics and links to these state data, where publicly available.

Mail Ballot Requests by Party Registration

Reporting states with party registration data: CO, FL, NC, PA

Party Count Percent
Democrats 4,796,980 44.9
Republicans 3,076,640 28.8
Minor 117,323 1.1
No Party Affiliation 2,684,321 25.1
TOTAL 10,675,264 100.0

Registered Democrats have a 1,720,340 ballot request lead over registered Republicans.

Note: Party registration statistics are for states that have party registration. These statistics are not actual votes. By federal law, election officials do not begin counting ballots until Election Day, although they may start the process of preparing ballots for counting in advance.

Mail Ballot Requests by Race and Ethnicity

Reporting states with race or ethnicity data: NC, SC

Race Count Percent
Non-Hispanic White 521,807 69.3
Non-Hispanic Black 154,218 20.5
Hispanic 13,198 1.8
Non-Hispanic Asian American 14,971 2.0
Non-Hispanic Native American 2,093 0.3
Other/Multiple/Unknown 46,656 6.2
TOTAL 752,943 100.0

Note: Race and ethnicity statistics are for states that ask registered voters to provide their race and ethnicity.

Mail Ballot Requests by Age

Reporting states with age data: CO, OH (partial), PA

Age Count Percent
18 to 24 509,707 8.0
25 to 34 1,045,561 16.4
35 to 44 968,872 15.2
45 to 54 885,741 13.9
55 to 64 1,103,699 17.3
65 and up 1,849,437 29.1
TOTAL 6,363,017 100.0

Mail Ballot Requests by Gender

Reporting states with gender data: CO, NC

Gender Count Percent
Female 2,325,769 50.8
Male 2,157,909 47.1
Unknown 93,669 2.0
TOTAL 4,577,347 100.0

Colorado

Last Report: 8/12/2020
Source: Data provided by Colorado Secretary of State’s office

Discussion

Colorado is an all-mail ballot state. Ballot requests reported here are counts of the state’s registered voters

Mail Ballot Requests by Party Registration

Party Count Percent
Democrats 1,188,285 29.6
Republicans 1,090,076 27.1
Minor 71,121 1.8
No Party Affiliation 1,667,613 41.5
TOTAL 4,017,095 100.0

Colorado registered Democrats have a 98,209 ballot request lead over registered Republicans.

Mail Ballot Requests by Age

Age Count Percent
18 to 24 396,116 9.9
25 to 34 807,711 20.1
35 to 44 711,612 17.7
45 to 54 614,608 15.3
55 to 64 645,328 16.1
65 and up 841,720 21.0
TOTAL 4,017,095 100.0

Mail Ballot Requests by Gender

Gender Count Percent
Female 2,015,444 50.2
Male 1,935,670 48.2
Unknown 65,981 1.6
TOTAL 4,017,095 100.0

Florida

Last Report: 09/01/2020
Source: https://countyballotfiles.elections.myflorida.com/FVRSCountyBallotReports/AbsenteeEarlyVotingReports/PublicStats

Discussion

Florida’s ballot requests are good through two general elections. All August primary ballot requests are good for November, unless a voter notifies election officials they wish to cancel their request.

To calculate the number of requested ballots from the Florida Division of Elections website, add the rows Vote-by-Mail Provided (Not Yet Returned) and Voted Vote-by-Mail.

Mail Ballot Requests by Party Registration

Party Count Percent
Democrats 2,031,281 47.5
Republicans 1,371,603 32.1
Minor 42,906 1.0
No Party Affiliation 828,979 19.4
TOTAL 4,274,769 100.0

Florida registered Democrats have a 659,678 ballot request lead over registered Republicans.

Illinois

Last Report: 08/31/2020
Source: https://elections.il.gov/VotingAndRegistrationSystems/PreElectionCounts.aspx?MID=l0hlXuSrKL0%3d&T=637317257975604269

Discussion

Illinois provides only early ballot counts by county.

Mail Ballot Requests

Total Count Percent
TOTAL 1,232,357 100

North Carolina

Last Report: 09/01/2020
Source: https://dl.ncsbe.gov/?prefix=ENRS/2020_11_03/

Discussion

North Carolina is the first state to begin general election voting. Election officials start sending ballots to voters on September 4.

Mail Ballot Requests by Party Registration

Party Count Percent
Democrats 297,023 53.0
Republicans 88,255 15.8
Minor 1,689 0.3
No Party Affiliation 173,285 30.9
TOTAL 560,252 100.0

North Carolina registered Democrats have a 208,768 ballot request lead over registered Republicans.

Mail Ballot Requests by Race and Ethnicity

Race Count Percent
Non-Hispanic White 384,575 68.6
Non-Hispanic Black 102,936 18.4
Hispanic 12,107 2.2
Non-Hispanic Asian American 13,441 2.4
Non-Hispanic Native American 1,880 0.3
Other/Multiple/Unknown 45,313 8.1
TOTAL 560,252 100.0

Mail Ballot Requests by Gender

Gender Count Percent
Female 310,325 55.4
Male 222,239 39.7
Unknown 27,688 4.9
TOTAL 560,252 100.0

Ohio

Last Report: 8/30/2020
Source: Data scraped from county websites

Discussion

Data presented here are scraped from 62 of Ohio’s 88 counties that post absentee ballot reports online. These 62 reporting counties include the largest counties of Cuyahoga, Franklin, and Hamilton.

These data were last scraped on the Last Report date, but counties may have last posted their data on an earlier date.

You may see reports of Ohio mail ballot activity by “Party”. I will not post party statistics because they are misleading. Ohio’s party affiliation is unlike party registration in other states. In Ohio, “Party” is a record of the last party primary a voter participated in, in the current and past last two calendar years (see: Ohio Code 3513.19(3)). In Ohio’s April 28, 2020 presidential primary, 124,628 more voters participated in the Democratic primary than the Republican primary, primarily because President Trump had only token opposition. As a consequence, Ohio’s “Party” is currently artificially tilted towards the Democrats. Leveraging this quirk, both political parties and their allies have abused these party statistics over the years to make disingenuous claims about party enthusiasm in Ohio.

Mail Ballot Requests

Total Count Percent
TOTAL 523,012 100

Mail Ballot Requests by Age

Age Count Percent
18 to 24 26,512 5.1
25 to 34 48,925 9.4
35 to 44 55,514 10.6
45 to 54 59,884 11.4
55 to 64 101,548 19.4
65 and up 230,629 44.1
TOTAL 523,012 100.0

Pennsylvania

Last Report: 8/3/2020
Source: https://data.pa.gov/Government-Efficiency-Citizen-Engagement/2020-Primary-Election-Mail-Ballot-Requests-Departm/853w-ecfz

Discussion

Pennsylvania ballot requests are good through the end of a calendar year unless a voter otherwise cancels it. I analyze the ballot requests for the state’s closed primary. The number of ballot requests from all voters, especially minor party and no party affiliated voters, is likely larger than reported here.

Mail Ballot Requests by Party Registration

Party Count Percent
Democrats 1,280,391 70.2
Republicans 526,706 28.9
Minor 1,607 0.1
No Party Affiliation 14,444 0.8
TOTAL 1,823,148 100.0

Pennsylvania registered Democrats have a 753,685 ballot request lead over registered Republicans.

Mail Ballot Requests by Age

Age Count Percent
18 to 24 87,079 4.8
25 to 34 188,925 10.4
35 to 44 201,746 11.1
45 to 54 211,249 11.6
55 to 64 356,823 19.6
65 and up 777,088 42.6
TOTAL 1,823,148 100.0

South Carolina

Last Report: 08/31/2020
Source: https://www.scvotes.gov/fact-sheets

Discussion

South Carolina does not have party registration, but does provides ballot counts by race.

Mail Ballot Requests by Race and Ethnicity

Race Count Percent
Non-Hispanic White 137,232 71.2
Non-Hispanic Black 51,282 26.6
Hispanic 1,091 0.6
Non-Hispanic Asian American 1,530 0.8
Non-Hispanic Native American 213 0.1
Other/Multiple/Unknown 1,343 0.7
TOTAL 192,691 100.0