A User’s Guide to Mail-In Voting

<p>The pandemic will mean that many more Americans vote by mail this year.</p><p>All 50 states require people to register before they can cast a mail-in vote. But from there, the rules diverge wildly.</p><p>And a lot could still change. Our correspondent Luke Broadwater, a reporter in Washington, says there are more than 300 challenges to voting-related rules winding through courts across the country.</p><p>Americans should probably brace for a different kind of election night — it could be days or longer before the full picture of results emerges.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/luke-broadwater" target="_blank">Luke Broadwater</a>, a congressional reporter for The New York Times.</p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank">nytimes.com/thedaily </a></p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>Republicans fear that President Trump’s messaging on voting by mail could depress turnout. But Democrats worry an overreliance on the mail<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/us/mail-voting-democrats-republicans-turnout.html?searchResultPosition=5" target="_blank"> could leave more of their votes uncounted</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/magazine/trump-voter-fraud.html" target="_blank">A New York Times Magazine investigation</a> found that misleading and false claims about widespread voter fraud are part of a long disinformation effort — one that Mr. Trump has taken to new extremes.</li><li>Here’s<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/24/us/politics/how-to-vote-register.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article" target="_blank"> how to vote in your state</a>.</li></ul>