In-Person Voting on Election Day Keeps Declining

Mail-in voting has become increasingly popular over time, with millions of Americans choosing this option. According to Census Bureau data analyzed by MIT’s Election Data & Science Lab, the share of ballots cast by mail rose from 8 percent in 1996 to 29 percent in 2024. During the pandemic, mail-in voting peaked at 43 percent in 2020 and remained relatively high at 32 percent in 2022. Although it declined slightly in 2024, the level still remains well above pre-pandemic figures.

Early in-person voting has also grown significantly over the past three decades, increasing from just 3 percent in 1996 to 31 percent in 2024. As both mail-in and early voting have expanded, Election Day voting has declined. The share of voters casting ballots in person on Election Day fell from 89 percent in 1996 to 50 percent in the 2022 midterms and further to just 40 percent in 2024. This means that, in the most recent election, Election Day voters were in the minority.

The MIT Election Data & Science Lab also highlights a partisan divide in mail voting. In 2024, 37 percent of Democrats reported voting by mail, compared to 24 percent of Republicans. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center conducted in August 2025, 58 percent of Americans supported allowing any voter to cast a ballot by mail, although support was higher among voters aligned with the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.

The Survey of the Performance of American Elections (SPAE), conducted by YouGov on behalf of the MIT Election Data & Science Lab, found that voter confidence was high in 2024 despite ongoing debates about voting methods. Overall, 96 percent of respondents said they were either very or somewhat confident that their vote was counted as intended, up from 91 percent in 2020.