vox--2020-09-17--How to vote by mail in 2020

How to vote by mail in 2020

Vox answers your biggest questions about the 2020 US presidential election , which could be one of the most consequential of our lifetimes .
Like just about every other facet of life in America , Election Day is going to look a little bit different in 2020 .
Though voters will still go to the polls , at least in most states , a record number of people are expected to vote by mail from the comfort of their homes .
But while in a normal election you probably just need to know two dates — when to register to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election is — there are a few more to keep track of if you plan to vote by mail this November .
Vox is here to help .
First , make sure you ’ re registered — some states ’ relevant deadlines are as early as October 4 ( many have later deadlines if you are voting in person ) .
Then you should know what types of voting your state allows , and where it falls on the spectrum of making it easy ( or hard ) for voters to cast their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few states conduct their elections solely through the mail , the vast majority of American states and territories have expanded absentee voting during the pandemic to permit any voter to cast a ballot by mail .
Some , however , still have strict requirements for who can get an absentee ballot .
Specifically , most states require that you submit an absentee ballot request ( absentee voting is functionally the same thing as mail-in voting , despite what President Donald Trump may say ) .
Then it ’ s a good idea to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to show up , and of course when you need to return it so that it ’ s counted .
For ballot requests and/or returns , remember the relevant deadline may be for receipt , not postmarking .
Treat the deadlines with extreme caution , though : The USPS warned 46 states and the District of Columbia in late July this year that the anticipated surge of absentee voting could be such that some ballots arrive too late to be counted .
What ’ s more , Trump ’ s unfounded animus against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Postal Service could make things even harder .
None of that is to dissuade you from voting by mail , but it should underscore the critical importance of requesting your ballot early and voting early .
Some more words of warning : The rules aren ’ t totally settled in some places .
And there are a lot of active lawsuits over state election laws right now , some of which are trying to make it easier to vote absentee and others that are trying to cut back on it .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with your local elections office about deadlines and rules that may vary by county ; rules for military and overseas voters vary , too .
Finally , be sure to fill out and seal your ballot carefully , as it may be rejected if it ’ s missing a requirement like a matching signature .
In several states , certification by a witness or notary may be required .
If you ’ re not sure how you plan to vote — in many states , early in-person voting is also an option , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a secure ballot dropbox !
— then Vox ’ s Jen Kirby has the comprehensive voting guide for you .
( Note : In some states , you may have to vote provisionally if you request a mail ballot but decide to vote in person . )
But if you are planning to vote by mail , Vox has collected the dates you need to know — deadlines to register to vote ( if you want to vote by mail ) , deadlines to apply for an absentee ballot , dates when ballots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and deadlines to return your ballot — right here .
Read on for those dates in all 50 states and Washington , DC , organized by how easy or difficult it is to vote by mail in each .
Or go ahead and do a page “ find ” search to see your state deadlines quickly .
Again , it ’ s best to get started well before the deadlines to account for mailing windows , and these dates and rules may vary and are subject to change .
Check with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questions about how to vote .
If you live in Colorado , Hawaii , Oregon , Utah , or Washington , you ’ re in luck .
All five states already use universal vote-by-mail systems , so , pandemic notwithstanding , not much has changed .
If you ’ re registered to vote , a ballot should show up in your mailbox — you just need to get it back in the mail , or into a ballot dropbox , early enough that it ’ s received by your state ’ s deadline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s not to say you couldn ’ t go vote in-person on Election Day if you wanted to — voting centers or county elections offices in all five states allow you to cast a vote day-of if you so choose — but voting by mail is more readily accessible .
Here are the deadlines you need to know : • Register to vote by : Oct. 26 if voting by mail • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 12 • Return your ballot by : 7 pm on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mailed by : Oct. 16 • Return your ballot by : 6 pm on Nov. 3 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 14 • Return your ballot by : 8 pm on Nov. 3 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 13 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 2 ; received between Nov. 10 and Nov. 17 by canvass date ; Nov. 3 in person • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 16 • Return your ballot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you live in California , Nevada , New Jersey , Vermont , or the District of Columbia , voting absentee should be straightforward .
On account of the coronavirus pandemic , all four states and DC plan to automatically send absentee ballots to registered voters .
In Nevada and New Jersey , things have been complicated by pending Trump campaign lawsuits that seek to block the states from sending an absentee ballot to every registered voter .
As Vox ’ s Ian Millhiser points out , there are plenty of reasons to doubt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s worth keeping an eye on as Election Day draws closer .
In any case , if you live in one of these states and you ’ re registered to vote , you should have an absentee ballot coming your way ahead of the November election .
Here ’ s when you can expect them , and when they need to be returned by to be counted : • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 3 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by : Oct. 13 , or Oct. 26 if you ’ re registering in person • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : First week of October • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received by Nov. 10 • Register to vote by : Oct. 6 , or Oct. 29 if registering online • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Late September or early October • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received by Nov. 10 • Ballots expected to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 19 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received by 8 pm on Nov. 5 • Register to vote by : Day-of registration available • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 18 • Return your ballot by : Received by 7 pm on Nov. 3 or returned to the town clerk ’ s office by close of business on Nov. 2 If you live in one of about 35 states , you have one more step to deal with before you can vote from home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ absentee ballot access in the face of the coronavirus pandemic ( we ’ ll get to the ones that haven ’ t — like Texas and Mississippi — in a minute ) , most still require voters to request an absentee ballot .
That means there are at least two dates to know : when you need to submit your request by , and when your ballot needs to be returned by .
In some cases , like Iowa , every registered voter will be sent an absentee ballot application to fill out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , you might need to seek out an application on the state ’ s election website ( frequently found on the secretary of state ’ s site ) .
Montana is somewhat of a strange case : In addition to having no-excuse absentee voting , counties have the option of switching to something more similar to universal mail-in voting in the pandemic .
Most have done so , though all will have in-person polling places open as well .
And while some of the following states always allow for no-excuse absentee voting , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adopted that policy in response to Covid-19 .
Yet others , such as Alabama and Kentucky , still technically require an excuse — but coronavirus concerns are enough .
One last thing : Several states , like Wyoming and Minnesota , don ’ t have a ballot request deadline to speak of , but that doesn ’ t mean you don ’ t need to do it early .
Just because you can request a ballot up to November 2 doesn ’ t mean it ’ ll show up in time for you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to start to be mailed out : Sept. 19 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 2 ; received by noon on Nov. 3 • Ballots must be notarized or signed by two witnesses .
• Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 9 ( earlier for remote , military , and overseas voters ) • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received by Nov. 13 • Ballots must be signed by a witness .
• Ballots expected to start to be mailed out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by : 7 pm on Nov. 3 • Request your ballot by : Oct. 27 by mail or online ; Nov. 2 if submitting application in person • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 18 • Return your ballot by : 7:30 pm on Nov. 3 • Register to vote by : Oct. 27 ( postmarked-by date if registering by mail ) • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 3 • Return your ballot by : 8 pm on Nov. 3 • Request your ballot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nov. 2 by noon if submitting application in person • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 19 • Return your ballot by : 8 pm on Nov. 3 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 24 • Return your ballot by : 7 pm on Nov. 3 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 18 • Return your ballot by : 7 pm on Nov. 3 ( This could be extended — a judge ruled in August that Georgia must accept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through by Nov. 6 , but the state is appealing . )
• Request your ballot by : Oct. 23 by mail ; Oct. 30 if submitting application in person • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 18 • Return your ballot by : 8 pm on Nov. 3 • Request your ballot by : Oct. 29 by mail ; Nov. 2 if submitting application in person • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 24 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your ballot by : 5 pm on Oct. 24 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 5 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 2 ; received by Nov. 9 ; in person by Nov. 3 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 14 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received by Nov. 6 • Register to vote by : 4 pm on Oct. 5 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 14 • @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nov. 3 ; received by Nov. 6 • Register to vote by : Oct. 19 if registering by mail • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 4 • Return your ballot by : 8 pm on Nov. 3 • Request your ballot by : Request must be received by Oct. 20 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 24 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received by 10 am on Nov. 13 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 6 • Register to vote by Oct. 19 online or by mail ; in person through Election Day • Request your ballot by : Oct. 30 by mail ; Nov. 3 by 4 pm local time if submitting application in person • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 19 • Return your ballot by : 8 pm on Nov. 3 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 18 • Return your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; received by Nov. 10 • Request your ballot by : Oct. 21 by mail ; Nov. 2 if submitting application in person • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 22 • Return your ballot by : 7 pm on Nov. 3 • If you ’ re not in a category at risk for Covid-19 , absentee ballots must be notarized .
• Request your ballot by : noon on Nov. 2 ( if needed in your county ) • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Received by 8 pm local time on Nov. 3 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 28 • Return your ballot by : 8 pm on Nov. 3 • Register to vote by : Oct. 21 to Oct. 28 ( varies by county ) ; registration for voting absentee requires a witness • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 4 • Return your ballot by : 5 pm on Nov. 3 • Request your ballot by : 5 pm on Oct. 20 • Ballots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Oct. 12 • Return your ballot by : 7 pm on Nov. 3 • Request your ballot by : Oct. 27 by mail ; Nov. 2 if submitting application in person • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 18 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received by Nov. 10 or by Nov. 4 without a postmark • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 4 , the earliest in the country • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nov. 6 • Ballots must be signed by a witness .
• Register to vote by : Voter registration not required • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 24 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 2 ; received by Nov. 9 ( before canvass ) ; in person by Nov. 3 • Request your ballot by : Oct. 31 by noon • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 6 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 2 ; received by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 3 • Request your ballot by : 5 pm on Oct. 27 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 19 • Return your ballot by : 7 pm on Nov. 3 • Request your ballot by : 5 pm on Oct. 27 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 14 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by 8 pm on Nov. 3 ; received by Nov. 6 • Request your ballot by : Oct. 13 by 4 pm • Ballots expected to start to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Return your ballot by : 8 pm on Nov. 3 • Register to vote by : Oct. 5 , or Oct. 4 online • Request your ballot by : Oct. 24 , or Oct. 30 in person • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Oct. 4 • Return your ballot by : 7 pm on Nov. 3 • Request your ballot by : 5 pm on Nov. 2 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 18 • Return your ballot by : 7 pm on Nov. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oct. 23 ; in person by Oct. 31 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 19 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received by noon on Nov. 6 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 18 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received by Nov. 9 ( also accepted if received by Nov. 4 without a postmark ) ; in person by Nov. 2 • Register to vote by : Oct. 14 if registering online @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in person • Request your ballot by : 5 pm on Oct. 29 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 17 • Return your ballot by : 8 pm on Nov. 3 • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 18 • Return your ballot by : 7 pm on Nov. 3 With fewer than 60 days until the general election , there are still a handful of states that have done relatively little to accommodate for the reality of a largely uncontrolled pandemic .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Texas , you still need an excuse to request an absentee ballot — and generalized coronavirus concerns don ’ t count .
In some cases , that could change .
But for now , here ’ s what you need to know to vote by mail in these five states : • Eligible excuses to request an absentee ballot can be found here • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 19 • Return your ballot by : noon on Nov. 3 • Register to vote by : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in person ; Oct. 14 if registering online • Eligible excuses : Covid-19 specific excuses can be found here ; general excuses can be found here • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 19 • Return your ballot by : 4:30 pm on Nov. 2 • Ballots must be signed by a witness .
• Eligible excuses to request an absentee ballot can be found here ( a judge ’ s ruling may expand the list ) • Request your ballot by : No date specified — to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 21 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received by Nov. 10 ; in person by Oct. 31 • Eligible excuses to request an absentee ballot can be found here • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 19 • Eligible excuses to request an absentee ballot can be found here • Ballots expected to start to be mailed out : Sept. 19 • Return your ballot by : Postmarked by Nov. 3 ; received by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ September 8 : This article has been updated to reflect Maine ’ s new voter registration deadline , per the governor ’ s August executive order .
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Editor’s note, October 28: The USPS strongly recommends sending back your ballot by mail at least one week before Election Day. If you haven’t mailed yours yet, see our guide to other options for returning your ballot. The article below is no longer being updated.
Like just about every other facet of life in America, Election Day is going to look a little bit different in 2020. Though voters will still go to the polls, at least in most states, a record number of people are expected to vote by mail from the comfort of their homes.
But while in a normal election you probably just need to know two dates — when to register to vote by, and what day the election is — there are a few more to keep track of if you plan to vote by mail this November.
Vox is here to help.
First, make sure you’re registered — some states’ relevant deadlines are as early as October 4 (many have later deadlines if you are voting in person). Then you should know what types of voting your state allows, and where it falls on the spectrum of making it easy (or hard) for voters to cast their ballots by mail.
Though only a few states conduct their elections solely through the mail, the vast majority of American states and territories have expanded absentee voting during the pandemic to permit any voter to cast a ballot by mail. Some, however, still have strict requirements for who can get an absentee ballot.
Specifically, most states require that you submit an absentee ballot request (absentee voting is functionally the same thing as mail-in voting, despite what President Donald Trump may say). Then it’s a good idea to know when you can expect your ballot to show up, and of course when you need to return it so that it’s counted. For ballot requests and/or returns, remember the relevant deadline may be for receipt, not postmarking.
Treat the deadlines with extreme caution, though: The USPS warned 46 states and the District of Columbia in late July this year that the anticipated surge of absentee voting could be such that some ballots arrive too late to be counted. What’s more, Trump’s unfounded animus against mail-in voting and changes at the US Postal Service could make things even harder. None of that is to dissuade you from voting by mail, but it should underscore the critical importance of requesting your ballot early and voting early.
Some more words of warning: The rules aren’t totally settled in some places. And there are a lot of active lawsuits over state election laws right now, some of which are trying to make it easier to vote absentee and others that are trying to cut back on it. It’s always a good idea to check with your local elections office about deadlines and rules that may vary by county; rules for military and overseas voters vary, too.
Finally, be sure to fill out and seal your ballot carefully, as it may be rejected if it’s missing a requirement like a matching signature. In several states, certification by a witness or notary may be required.
If you’re not sure how you plan to vote — in many states, early in-person voting is also an option, as is depositing your absentee ballot in a secure ballot dropbox! — then Vox’s Jen Kirby has the comprehensive voting guide for you. (Note: In some states, you may have to vote provisionally if you request a mail ballot but decide to vote in person. You may also be able to track your ballot to ensure it gets to election officials.)
But if you are planning to vote by mail, Vox has collected the dates you need to know — deadlines to register to vote (if you want to vote by mail), deadlines to apply for an absentee ballot, dates when ballots are expected to go out to voters, and deadlines to return your ballot — right here.
Read on for those dates in all 50 states and Washington, DC, organized by how easy or difficult it is to vote by mail in each. Or go ahead and do a page “find” search to see your state deadlines quickly. Again, it’s best to get started well before the deadlines to account for mailing windows, and these dates and rules may vary and are subject to change. Check with a local election official if you have any questions about how to vote.
The vote-by-mail states
If you live in Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, or Washington, you’re in luck. All five states already use universal vote-by-mail systems, so, pandemic notwithstanding, not much has changed. If you’re registered to vote, a ballot should show up in your mailbox — you just need to get it back in the mail, or into a ballot dropbox, early enough that it’s received by your state’s deadline — or well before it.
That’s not to say you couldn’t go vote in-person on Election Day if you wanted to — voting centers or county elections offices in all five states allow you to cast a vote day-of if you so choose — but voting by mail is more readily accessible.
Here are the deadlines you need to know:
Colorado
Register to vote by: Oct. 26 if voting by mail
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 12
Return your ballot by: 7 pm on Nov. 3
Hawaii
Register to vote by: Oct. 5
Ballots expected to be mailed by: Oct. 16
Return your ballot by: 6 pm on Nov. 3
Oregon
Register to vote by: Oct. 13
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 14
Return your ballot by: 8 pm on Nov. 3
Utah
Register to vote by: Oct. 23
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 13
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 2; received between Nov. 10 and Nov. 17 by canvass date; Nov. 3 in person
Washington
Register to vote by: Oct. 26
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 16
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3
The absentee-ballot-for-all states
If you live in California, Nevada, New Jersey, Vermont, or the District of Columbia, voting absentee should be straightforward. On account of the coronavirus pandemic, all four states and DC plan to automatically send absentee ballots to registered voters.
In Nevada and New Jersey, things have been complicated by pending Trump campaign lawsuits that seek to block the states from sending an absentee ballot to every registered voter. As Vox’s Ian Millhiser points out, there are plenty of reasons to doubt that effort will succeed, but it’s worth keeping an eye on as Election Day draws closer.
In any case, if you live in one of these states and you’re registered to vote, you should have an absentee ballot coming your way ahead of the November election. Here’s when you can expect them, and when they need to be returned by to be counted:
California
Register to vote by: Oct. 19
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 3
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 20
District of Columbia
Register to vote by: Oct. 13, or Oct. 26 if you’re registering in person
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: First week of October
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 10
Nevada
Register to vote by: Oct. 6, or Oct. 29 if registering online
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Late September or early October
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 10
New Jersey
Register to vote by: Oct. 13
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 19
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by 8 pm on Nov. 5
Vermont
Register to vote by: Day-of registration available
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 18
Return your ballot by: Received by 7 pm on Nov. 3 or returned to the town clerk’s office by close of business on Nov. 2
The states with no-excuse absentee ballot applications
If you live in one of about 35 states, you have one more step to deal with before you can vote from home. Though almost every state has expanded absentee ballot access in the face of the coronavirus pandemic (we’ll get to the ones that haven’t — like Texas and Mississippi — in a minute), most still require voters to request an absentee ballot. That means there are at least two dates to know: when you need to submit your request by, and when your ballot needs to be returned by.
In some cases, like Iowa, every registered voter will be sent an absentee ballot application to fill out if they wish. In other states, you might need to seek out an application on the state’s election website (frequently found on the secretary of state’s site).
Montana is somewhat of a strange case: In addition to having no-excuse absentee voting, counties have the option of switching to something more similar to universal mail-in voting in the pandemic. Most have done so, though all will have in-person polling places open as well.
And while some of the following states always allow for no-excuse absentee voting, others in this category have only recently adopted that policy in response to Covid-19. Yet others, such as Alabama and Kentucky, still technically require an excuse — but coronavirus concerns are enough.
One last thing: Several states, like Wyoming and Minnesota, don’t have a ballot request deadline to speak of, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to do it early. Just because you can request a ballot up to November 2 doesn’t mean it’ll show up in time for you to vote it.
Alabama
Register to vote by: Oct. 19
Request your ballot by: Oct. 29
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 19
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 2; received by noon on Nov. 3
Ballots must be notarized or signed by two witnesses.
Alaska
Register to vote by: Oct. 4
Request your ballot by: Oct. 24
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 9 (earlier for remote, military, and overseas voters)
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 13
Arizona
Register to vote by: Oct. 5
Request your ballot by: Oct. 23
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 7
Return your ballot by: 7 pm on Nov. 3
Arkansas
Register to vote by: Oct. 5
Request your ballot by: Oct. 27 by mail or online; Nov. 2 if submitting application in person
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 18
Return your ballot by: 7:30 pm on Nov. 3
Connecticut
Register to vote by: Oct. 27 (postmarked-by date if registering by mail)
Request your ballot by: Nov. 2
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 3
Return your ballot by: 8 pm on Nov. 3
Delaware
Register to vote by: Oct. 10
Request your ballot by: Oct. 30 by mail; Nov. 2 by noon if submitting application in person
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 19
Return your ballot by: 8 pm on Nov. 3
Florida
Register to vote by: Oct. 5
Request your ballot by: 5 pm Oct. 24
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 24
Return your ballot by: 7 pm on Nov. 3
Georgia
Register to vote by: Oct. 5
Request your ballot by: Oct. 30
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 18
Return your ballot by: 7 pm on Nov. 3
Idaho
Register to vote by: Oct. 9
Request your ballot by: Oct. 23 by mail; Oct. 30 if submitting application in person
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 18
Return your ballot by: 8 pm on Nov. 3
Illinois
Register to vote by: Oct. 18
Request your ballot by: Oct. 29 by mail; Nov. 2 if submitting application in person
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 24
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 17
Iowa
Register to vote by: Oct. 24
Request your ballot by: 5 pm on Oct. 24
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 5
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 2; received by Nov. 9; in person by Nov. 3
Kansas
Register to vote by: Oct. 13
Request your ballot by: Oct. 27
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 14
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 6
Kentucky
Register to vote by: 4 pm on Oct. 5
Request your ballot by: Oct. 27
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 14
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 6
Maine
Register to vote by: Oct. 19 if registering by mail
Request your ballot by: Oct. 29
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 4
Return your ballot by: 8 pm on Nov. 3
Maryland
Register to vote by: Oct. 13
Request your ballot by: Request must be received by Oct. 20
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 24
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by 10 am on Nov. 13
Massachusetts
Register to vote by: Oct. 24
Request your ballot by: Oct. 20 (recommended); Oct. 28 (hard deadline)
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Late September or early October
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 6
Michigan
Register to vote by Oct. 19 online or by mail; in person through Election Day
Request your ballot by: Oct. 30 by mail; Nov. 3 by 4 pm local time if submitting application in person
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 19
Return your ballot by: Nov. 3
Minnesota
Register to vote by: Oct. 13
Request your ballot by: Nov. 2
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 18
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 10
Missouri
Register to vote by: Oct. 7
Request your ballot by: Oct. 21 by mail; Nov. 2 if submitting application in person
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 22
Return your ballot by: 7 pm on Nov. 3
If you’re not in a category at risk for Covid-19, absentee ballots must be notarized.
Montana
Register to vote by: Oct. 26
Request your ballot by: noon on Nov. 2 (if needed in your county)
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 9
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 9
Nebraska
Register to vote by: Oct. 16
Request your ballot by: Oct. 23
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 28
Return your ballot by: 8 pm on Nov. 3
New Hampshire
Register to vote by: Oct. 21 to Oct. 28 (varies by county); registration for voting absentee requires a witness
Request your ballot by: Nov. 2
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 4
Return your ballot by: 5 pm on Nov. 3
New Mexico
Register to vote by: Oct. 6
Request your ballot by: 5 pm on Oct. 20
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 12
Return your ballot by: 7 pm on Nov. 3
New York
Register to vote by: Oct. 9
Request your ballot by: Oct. 27 by mail; Nov. 2 if submitting application in person
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 18
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 10 or by Nov. 4 without a postmark
North Carolina
Register to vote by: Oct. 9
Request your ballot by: Oct. 27
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 4, the earliest in the country
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 12 (This extended deadline is being contested, however.)
Ballots must be signed by a witness.
North Dakota
Register to vote by: Voter registration not required
Request your ballot by: Nov. 2
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 24
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 2; received by Nov. 9 (before canvass); in person by Nov. 3
Ohio
Register to vote by: Oct. 5
Request your ballot by: Oct. 31 by noon
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 6
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 2; received by Nov. 13; in person by Nov. 3
Oklahoma
Register to vote by: Oct. 9
Request your ballot by: 5 pm on Oct. 27
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 19
Return your ballot by: 7 pm on Nov. 3
Pennsylvania
Register to vote by: Oct. 19
Request your ballot by: 5 pm on Oct. 27
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 14
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by 8 pm on Nov. 3; received by Nov. 6
Rhode Island
Register to vote by: Oct. 4
Request your ballot by: Oct. 13 by 4 pm
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 19
Return your ballot by: 8 pm on Nov. 3
South Carolina
Register to vote by: Oct. 5, or Oct. 4 online
Request your ballot by: Oct. 24, or Oct. 30 in person
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Oct. 4
Return your ballot by: 7 pm on Nov. 3
After a Supreme Court ruling, a witness signature is required if you have not already submitted your ballot.
South Dakota
Register to vote by: Oct. 19
Request your ballot by: 5 pm on Nov. 2
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 18
Return your ballot by: 7 pm on Nov. 3
Virginia
Register to vote by: Oct. 15 (extended after a website malfunction)
Request your ballot by: Oct. 23; in person by Oct. 31
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 19
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by noon on Nov. 6
West Virginia
Register to vote by: Oct. 13
Request your ballot by: Oct. 28
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 18
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 9 (also accepted if received by Nov. 4 without a postmark); in person by Nov. 2
Wisconsin
Register to vote by: Oct. 14 if registering online or by mail, or Oct. 30 in person
Request your ballot by: 5 pm on Oct. 29
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 17
Return your ballot by: Received by Nov. 3
A witness signature is required.
Wyoming
Register to vote by: Oct. 19
Request your ballot by: Nov. 2
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 18
Return your ballot by: 7 pm on Nov. 3
The rest (states with excuse-required absentee ballot applications)
With fewer than 60 days until the general election, there are still a handful of states that have done relatively little to accommodate for the reality of a largely uncontrolled pandemic. In Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas, you still need an excuse to request an absentee ballot — and generalized coronavirus concerns don’t count.
In some cases, that could change. But for now, here’s what you need to know to vote by mail in these five states:
Indiana
Register to vote by: Oct. 5
Eligible excuses to request an absentee ballot can be found here
Request your ballot by: Oct. 22
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 19
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 13
Louisiana
Register to vote by: Oct. 5 if registering by mail or in person; Oct. 13 if registering online
Eligible excuses: Covid-19 specific excuses can be found here; general excuses can be found here
Request your ballot by: Oct. 30
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 19
Return your ballot by: 4:30 pm on Nov. 2
Ballots must be signed by a witness.
Mississippi
Register to vote by: Oct. 5
Eligible excuses to request an absentee ballot can be found here (a judge’s ruling may expand the list)
Request your ballot by: No date specified — to be safe, the earlier the better
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 21
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by Nov. 10; in person by Oct. 31
Ballots must be notarized.
Tennessee
Register to vote by: Oct. 5
Eligible excuses to request an absentee ballot can be found here
Request your ballot by: Oct. 27
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 19
Return your ballot by: Nov. 3
Texas
Register to vote by: Oct. 5
Eligible excuses to request an absentee ballot can be found here
Request your ballot by: Oct. 23
Ballots expected to start to be mailed out: Sept. 19
Return your ballot by: Postmarked by Nov. 3; received by 5 pm on Nov. 4
Correction, September 8: This article has been updated to reflect Maine’s new voter registration deadline, per the governor’s August executive order.
Correction, October 12: Updated to reflect Virginia’s deadline to register to vote was October 13. This deadline was later extended to October 15 after a website outage.


vox--2020-09-17--What long voting lines in the US really mean

The process of voting isn ’ t the same for all Americans .
Depending on where you live , you might vote on a screen , a punchcard , or a piece of paper .
You might have to show an ID to vote .
And you might have to wait a long time — or you might not .
Some of these differences don ’ t really matter .
But some of them make voting harder .
And sometimes they can keep people from voting altogether .
For decades , the US had a civil rights law that made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t disproportionately keep certain people from voting : the 1965 Voting Rights Act .
But in 2013 , the US Supreme Court gutted that law , allowing states to pass a slew of new voting laws .
Those new laws often had the effect of making it harder for poor people and people of color to vote .
The 2020 US election will be shaped in part by those laws .
But the same election will also decide the future of those laws .
This video is the second in our series @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t covering the horse race ; instead , we want to explain the stakes of the election through the issues that matter the most to you .
To do that , we want to know what you think the US presidential candidates should be talking about .
Tell us here : vox.com/ElectionVideos You can find this video and all of Vox ’ s videos on YouTube .
And if you ’ re interested in supporting our video journalism , you can become a member of the Vox Video Lab on YouTube .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ turn to Vox each month to understand what ’ s happening in the news , from the coronavirus crisis to a racial reckoning to what is , quite possibly , the most consequential presidential election of our lifetimes .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
Even when the economy and the news advertising market recovers , your support will be a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ you .
If you haven ’ t , please consider helping everyone make sense of an increasingly chaotic world : Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

The process of voting isn’t the same for all Americans. Depending on where you live, you might vote on a screen, a punchcard, or a piece of paper. You might have to show an ID to vote. And you might have to wait a long time — or you might not.
Some of these differences don’t really matter. But some of them make voting harder. And sometimes they can keep people from voting altogether. For decades, the US had a civil rights law that made sure those differences were fair and didn’t disproportionately keep certain people from voting: the 1965 Voting Rights Act. But in 2013, the US Supreme Court gutted that law, allowing states to pass a slew of new voting laws.
Those new laws often had the effect of making it harder for poor people and people of color to vote. The 2020 US election will be shaped in part by those laws. But the same election will also decide the future of those laws.
This video is the second in our series on the 2020 election. We aren’t covering the horse race; instead, we want to explain the stakes of the election through the issues that matter the most to you. To do that, we want to know what you think the US presidential candidates should be talking about. Tell us here: vox.com/ElectionVideos
You can find this video and all of Vox’s videos on YouTube. And if you’re interested in supporting our video journalism, you can become a member of the Vox Video Lab on YouTube.


vox--2020-09-17--What wildfires in Brazil, Siberia, and the US West have in common

What wildfires in Brazil , Siberia , and the US West have in common Share All sharing options for : What wildfires in Brazil , Siberia , and the US West have in common The West Coast of the United States is still deep in the throes of an epic wildfire season , with California officials warning that the record area of 3.1 million acres burned in the state so far this year is likely to keep growing .
“ With no significant precipitation in sight , California remains dry and ripe for wildfires , ” the California Department of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) said in a statement on Wednesday .
Oregon and Washington , meanwhile , are also still battling dozens of fires , with air quality hazardous in many communities , including the Portland metro area .
These regions have not been alone in facing raging fires this year .
Australia ’ s record-shattering summer of bushfires bled into January and February .
And then , following an unusually warm spring , wildfires lit up the Arctic Circle region starting in May .
In Brazil , massive fires have erupted in the Pantanal wetlands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact , this year ’ s Amazon fires are expected to be even larger than the notorious ones of 2019 , a Brazilian government researcher told Reuters .
With Covid-19 compounding the health threat of wildfire smoke , this year ’ s fires are putting an unprecedented strain on communities .
But scientists say we should expect bigger , more deadly , and more destructive fires like the ones we ’ ve seen in 2020 in the years to come .
“ Overall , there is general agreement amongst the studies that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fire-season length , burned area and fire occurrence are increasing with future climate change , ” researchers wrote in an article published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment in August .
The recent fires resulted from a combination of local and global factors , but human mismanagement — from climate change to deforestation to neglecting controlled burns — is the backdrop of each crisis .
They remind us of the urgency of stopping greenhouse gas emissions to limit climate-fueled disasters and chaos in the future .
Why Brazil is burning again While the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington have been dominating US headlines , Brazil has actually topped the charts for fire hot spots globally .
In almost every day in September so far , Brazil has had twice the number of hot spots as the US , according to the Greenpeace Global Fire Dashboard , which identifies fire activity using NASA satellite data .
If a pixel of the satellite image , which covers 1 square kilometer , contains fire , it is labeled a hot spot .
A government researcher told Reuters he expects 2020 will mark the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As with 2019 , researchers have linked this year ’ s fires to massive illegal deforestation .
Under Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ’ s administration , ranchers , farmers , and miners have been given much freer rein to clear the rich rainforest for commercial activity , and setting fires is a cheap way to do that .
“ The fires we see now , which will be record-breaking and the worst in 10 years , are the result of a deliberate strategy of environmental rollbacks and impunity for people who are behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Brindis , forests campaign director at Greenpeace .
Last year ’ s illegal fires were met with outcry from the international community , including French President Emanuel Macron , UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres , and a domestic coalition of opposition politicians and indigenous organizers .
Some international investors have also taken action : Norway ’ s Nordea Asset Management divested its holdings from Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS SA this summer over reports that its supply chain was contributing to deforestation .
However , according to Brindis , “ The pressure has not met @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In other words , the large-scale burning this summer shows that these campaigns have yet to effectively prevent deforestation or the subsequent uncontrolled wildfires in Brazil .
In July , the Bolsonaro administration announced a 120-day ban on fires in the Amazon and Pantanal , a region in southwestern Brazil that ’ s home to the world ’ s largest wetlands — but experts told the New York Times that it hasn ’ t been strictly enforced .
Record fires in the Pantanal region this summer are also linked to illegal land-clearing for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ half of the year , Federal University of Mato Grosso ecologist Leticia Couto Garcia told Unearthed .
Along with deforestation , climate change also plays a role in increasing fire risk in the Amazon and Pantanal .
The frequency of high fire weather days in the Amazon increased above natural variability starting in 1997 , according to a 2018 study published in Geophysical Research Letters .
Drought in the Pantanal and other parts of Brazil in 2020 has made the region drier , fueling the fires .
Due to climate change , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extended drought in the future , according to a 2020 study published in PLOS One .
Patterns similar to those in the Amazon and Pantanal have also played out in Indonesia in recent years .
During the country ’ s dry season in 2019 , nearly 4 million acres of peatland and tropical forest were burned .
Like in Brazil , slashing and burning is an easy way for farmers to clear land , in this case for the palm oil and paper industries .
Indonesia hasn ’ t had a pronounced dry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of fires has remained low — but the season isn ’ t typically over until October .
Climate change is fueling fires from Siberia to the West Coast Deforestation has not played the same leading role in the fires spanning the western US and Siberia this summer , but climate change has primed both landscapes to burn .
Over the past two years , the Arctic has had record fire seasons .
A Russian Academy of Sciences researcher told Nature almost 20,000 fires across 35 million acres of land — mostly permafrost — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Like the California fires , which cast an orange hue over the San Francisco Bay Area , the Arctic fires have had a sci-fi quality .
So-called “ zombie fires ” may be burning in Arctic peatlands , where approximately half of this summer ’ s fires have occurred .
Peat soils , the result of up to thousands of years of decomposing organic matter , are a very carbon-dense fuel , and some researchers believe the fires can smolder beneath the frozen surface in the winter months before reappearing — like zombies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
2020 ’ s Arctic fires were ignited early in the rapidly warming region due to an unusually temperate spring followed by a summer heat wave , which helped dry out soils .
Recent research shows that the Arctic peatlands will flip from being carbon sinks to carbon sources as the region heats up further .
Climate change has also been a force behind the latest wave of destructive wildfires on the West Coast .
Rising temperatures have dried out the West ’ s forests , making them more vulnerable to fire .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ made California increasingly prone to fire .
A study recently published in Environmental Research Letters showed that fall days with fire weather have doubled because of climate change .
With fires burning in so many disparate corners of the world , one might assume that wildfires have been growing every year .
However , a 2017 study in Science showed the amount of land burned yearly actually decreased by 25 percent in the preceding two decades .
This is largely due to land use changes , namely the conversion of more fire-prone savannah @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Swansea University wildfire researcher Cristina Santin Nuno told Carbon Brief .
But fire risk is indeed increasing due to climate change , according to a 2020 review of the scientific literature on ScienceBrief , a website run by scientists who review evidence on critical topics .
“ Human-induced warming has already led to a global increase in the frequency and severity of fire weather , increasing the risks of wildfire , ” the authors concluded .
Just how much fires increase in the future , or whether they do at all despite the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policymakers and citizens respond to the threat .
If governments do not take action to control greenhouse gases and deforestation , a vicious cycle will ensue where fires may lead to more fires .
As landscapes burn and release carbon dioxide , it helps trap more heat in the atmosphere .
In the past , carbon dioxide from fires would be reabsorbed when plants regrew in subsequent years , but 2019 ’ s fire emissions rose , potentially destabilizing that balance .
Valuable “ carbon sinks ” are lost when ecosystems burn , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Arctic peatlands , which have built up over millennia .
On the other hand , if global emissions drop , deforestation decreases , and better fire management practices are applied locally , fires may not increase as much .
“ If we are able to keep the amount of warming to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels , we dramatically reduce the area that sees an emergence in this fire weather index compared to if we warm by 3°C , ” John Abatzoglou , a scientist at the University of California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change increases fire weather , told Vox .
Improving fire management practices is also critical , Abatzoglou said .
Indigenous people in North America have historically practiced prescribed burning , which is now more broadly recognized as an effective way to reduce the risk of uncontrolled fires .
Across global fire zones , “ One common thread is that Indigenous stewardship is something that we can learn from , ” said Greenpeace ’ s Brindis .
While these preventative measures are important , the threat of climate change still looms large , Abatzoglou @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of stacking the deck for more fire in the future , ” he said , “ due to the confluence of warming and drying conditions and this legacy of fire suppression and the exclusion of indigenous practices on the land.
” Lili Pike is a science , health , and environmental reporting ( SHERP ) master ’ s student at NYU and a freelance journalist with a focus on China .
Help keep Vox free for all Millions turn to Vox each month to understand what ’ s happening in the news , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reckoning to what is , quite possibly , the most consequential presidential election of our lifetimes .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
Even when the economy and the news advertising market recovers , your support will be a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work .
If you have already contributed , thank you .
If you haven ’ t , please consider helping everyone make sense of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from as little as $ 3 .

What wildfires in Brazil, Siberia, and the US West have in common
Share All sharing options for: What wildfires in Brazil, Siberia, and the US West have in common
The West Coast of the United States is still deep in the throes of an epic wildfire season, with California officials warning that the record area of 3.1 million acres burned in the state so far this year is likely to keep growing.
“With no significant precipitation in sight, California remains dry and ripe for wildfires,” the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) said in a statement on Wednesday. Oregon and Washington, meanwhile, are also still battling dozens of fires, with air quality hazardous in many communities, including the Portland metro area.
These regions have not been alone in facing raging fires this year. Australia’s record-shattering summer of bushfires bled into January and February. And then, following an unusually warm spring, wildfires lit up the Arctic Circle region starting in May.
In Brazil, massive fires have erupted in the Pantanal wetlands and in the Amazon rainforest. In fact, this year’s Amazon fires are expected to be even larger than the notorious ones of 2019, a Brazilian government researcher told Reuters.
With Covid-19 compounding the health threat of wildfire smoke, this year’s fires are putting an unprecedented strain on communities. But scientists say we should expect bigger, more deadly, and more destructive fires like the ones we’ve seen in 2020 in the years to come.
“Overall, there is general agreement amongst the studies that the frequency or severity of fire weather, fire-season length, burned area and fire occurrence are increasing with future climate change,” researchers wrote in an article published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment in August.
The recent fires resulted from a combination of local and global factors, but human mismanagement — from climate change to deforestation to neglecting controlled burns — is the backdrop of each crisis. They remind us of the urgency of stopping greenhouse gas emissions to limit climate-fueled disasters and chaos in the future.
Why Brazil is burning again
While the fires in California, Oregon, and Washington have been dominating US headlines, Brazil has actually topped the charts for fire hot spots globally. In almost every day in September so far, Brazil has had twice the number of hot spots as the US, according to the Greenpeace Global Fire Dashboard, which identifies fire activity using NASA satellite data. If a pixel of the satellite image, which covers 1 square kilometer, contains fire, it is labeled a hot spot.
A government researcher told Reuters he expects 2020 will mark the worst August of fires since 2010.
As with 2019, researchers have linked this year’s fires to massive illegal deforestation. Under Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration, ranchers, farmers, and miners have been given much freer rein to clear the rich rainforest for commercial activity, and setting fires is a cheap way to do that.
“The fires we see now, which will be record-breaking and the worst in 10 years, are the result of a deliberate strategy of environmental rollbacks and impunity for people who are behind the illegal fires,” said Daniel Brindis, forests campaign director at Greenpeace.
Last year’s illegal fires were met with outcry from the international community, including French President Emanuel Macron, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and a domestic coalition of opposition politicians and indigenous organizers. Some international investors have also taken action: Norway’s Nordea Asset Management divested its holdings from Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS SA this summer over reports that its supply chain was contributing to deforestation.
However, according to Brindis, “The pressure has not met the threat in terms of magnitude.” In other words, the large-scale burning this summer shows that these campaigns have yet to effectively prevent deforestation or the subsequent uncontrolled wildfires in Brazil. In July, the Bolsonaro administration announced a 120-day ban on fires in the Amazon and Pantanal, a region in southwestern Brazil that’s home to the world’s largest wetlands — but experts told the New York Times that it hasn’t been strictly enforced.
Record fires in the Pantanal region this summer are also linked to illegal land-clearing for agriculture, which doubled in the first half of the year, Federal University of Mato Grosso ecologist Leticia Couto Garcia told Unearthed.
Along with deforestation, climate change also plays a role in increasing fire risk in the Amazon and Pantanal. The frequency of high fire weather days in the Amazon increased above natural variability starting in 1997, according to a 2018 study published in Geophysical Research Letters.
Drought in the Pantanal and other parts of Brazil in 2020 has made the region drier, fueling the fires. Due to climate change, the wetland will experience more frequent periods of extended drought in the future, according to a 2020 study published in PLOS One.
Patterns similar to those in the Amazon and Pantanal have also played out in Indonesia in recent years. During the country’s dry season in 2019, nearly 4 million acres of peatland and tropical forest were burned. Like in Brazil, slashing and burning is an easy way for farmers to clear land, in this case for the palm oil and paper industries. Indonesia hasn’t had a pronounced dry season in 2020, so the number of fires has remained low — but the season isn’t typically over until October.
Climate change is fueling fires from Siberia to the West Coast
Deforestation has not played the same leading role in the fires spanning the western US and Siberia this summer, but climate change has primed both landscapes to burn.
Over the past two years, the Arctic has had record fire seasons. A Russian Academy of Sciences researcher told Nature almost 20,000 fires across 35 million acres of land — mostly permafrost — burned in eastern Russia this summer.
Like the California fires, which cast an orange hue over the San Francisco Bay Area, the Arctic fires have had a sci-fi quality.
So-called “zombie fires” may be burning in Arctic peatlands, where approximately half of this summer’s fires have occurred. Peat soils, the result of up to thousands of years of decomposing organic matter, are a very carbon-dense fuel, and some researchers believe the fires can smolder beneath the frozen surface in the winter months before reappearing — like zombies — in the summer, Nature reported.
2020’s Arctic fires were ignited early in the rapidly warming region due to an unusually temperate spring followed by a summer heat wave, which helped dry out soils.
Recent research shows that the Arctic peatlands will flip from being carbon sinks to carbon sources as the region heats up further.
Climate change has also been a force behind the latest wave of destructive wildfires on the West Coast. Rising temperatures have dried out the West’s forests, making them more vulnerable to fire.
Since the 1980s, fall weather has made California increasingly prone to fire. A study recently published in Environmental Research Letters showed that fall days with fire weather have doubled because of climate change.
Will climate change increase fire risk globally?
With fires burning in so many disparate corners of the world, one might assume that wildfires have been growing every year. However, a 2017 study in Science showed the amount of land burned yearly actually decreased by 25 percent in the preceding two decades. This is largely due to land use changes, namely the conversion of more fire-prone savannah in Central Africa to agricultural land, Swansea University wildfire researcher Cristina Santin Nuno told Carbon Brief.
But fire risk is indeed increasing due to climate change, according to a 2020 review of the scientific literature on ScienceBrief, a website run by scientists who review evidence on critical topics. “Human-induced warming has already led to a global increase in the frequency and severity of fire weather, increasing the risks of wildfire,” the authors concluded.
Just how much fires increase in the future, or whether they do at all despite the rise in risk, depends on how policymakers and citizens respond to the threat.
If governments do not take action to control greenhouse gases and deforestation, a vicious cycle will ensue where fires may lead to more fires. As landscapes burn and release carbon dioxide, it helps trap more heat in the atmosphere. In the past, carbon dioxide from fires would be reabsorbed when plants regrew in subsequent years, but 2019’s fire emissions rose, potentially destabilizing that balance. Valuable “carbon sinks” are lost when ecosystems burn, sometimes irrecoverably — as in the case of Arctic peatlands, which have built up over millennia.
On the other hand, if global emissions drop, deforestation decreases, and better fire management practices are applied locally, fires may not increase as much.
“If we are able to keep the amount of warming to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels, we dramatically reduce the area that sees an emergence in this fire weather index compared to if we warm by 3°C,” John Abatzoglou, a scientist at the University of California Merced whose research has shown how climate change increases fire weather, told Vox.
Improving fire management practices is also critical, Abatzoglou said. Indigenous people in North America have historically practiced prescribed burning, which is now more broadly recognized as an effective way to reduce the risk of uncontrolled fires. Across global fire zones, “One common thread is that Indigenous stewardship is something that we can learn from,” said Greenpeace’s Brindis.
While these preventative measures are important, the threat of climate change still looms large, Abatzoglou said. “We are really sort of stacking the deck for more fire in the future,” he said, “due to the confluence of warming and drying conditions and this legacy of fire suppression and the exclusion of indigenous practices on the land.”
Lili Pike is a science, health, and environmental reporting (SHERP) master’s student at NYU and a freelance journalist with a focus on China.
ntribute today from as little as $3.


vox--2020-09-17--Trump says US Covid-19 deaths would be low if you excluded blue states. That’s wrong.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that if you excluded blue states , America ’ s Covid-19 death numbers would look much better .
“ If you take the blue states out , we ’ re at a level that I don ’ t think anybody in the world would be at , ” he said at a White House press conference .
There are plenty of problems with this .
It implies that the deaths of Americans who live in blue states don ’ t matter as much to Trump .
It suggests that he doesn ’ t take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that have a different political party in charge .
And it ’ s generally absurd for Trump to act as though he ’ s not the president of the whole country .
But it ’ s also flatly false : When dividing states based on their 2016 votes for president , 11 of the top 20 states for Covid-19 deaths went for Trump .
Overall , blue states fare worse with a death rate of 74 per 100,000 people , but red states still have a relatively high death rate , by global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To put it another way : If you somehow “ take the blue states out ” and red states were their own country , they ’ d still be in the top 20 for Covid-19 deaths worldwide .
Blue states would rank in the top five .
Among only developed countries , blue states would be in the top five and red states would be in the top 10 .
As a whole , the US is currently 11th worldwide and fifth among developed nations for Covid-19 deaths .
Individual states look even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its Covid-19 death rate of 93 per 100,000 , was a country , it would be in the top three globally , after San Marino and Peru .
Democratic-run New Jersey and New York , with death rates of 181 and 168 , respectively , would lead the entire world .
America ’ s coronavirus epidemic hit blue states particularly hard at first , especially in the Northeast .
New Jersey , New York , and Massachusetts are still the top three states for Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 people .
( Massachusetts has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent resurgence of Covid-19 hit red states hard too , unfortunately working to balance the scales in this grim statistic .
Trump ’ s comments are just another way that he ’ s tried to shirk responsibility for America ’ s Covid-19 epidemic as the national death toll nears 200,000 , effectively shifting the blame to Democratic leaders .
Previously , Trump told journalist Bob Woodward , “ The virus has nothing to do with me .
It ’ s not my fault .
… China let the damn virus out.
” Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could have been done.
” The reality is much more could have been done , but the president blundered at every step of the way .
As cases climbed in the US , Trump abdicated problems with testing to local , state , and private actors ; pushed states to reopen way too early to supposedly “ LIBERATE ” their economies ; spoke negatively about masks while refusing to wear one himself ; and backed unproven and even dangerous approaches to treating Covid-19 , including injecting bleach .
Each of these failures compounded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toll — and local and state governments , as hard as some tried , simply don ’ t have the resources to fight a pandemic on their own as the federal government flails .
The result : While the US hasn ’ t seen the most coronavirus deaths of all wealthy nations , it ’ s in the bottom 20 percent for deaths among them since the pandemic began , and reports seven times the deaths as the median developed country .
If the US had the same Covid-19 death rate as , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would likely be alive today .
That ’ s on Trump , no matter how much he tries to shift the blame to blue states , China , and everyone else .
Correction : The Covid-19 death rates for both red and blue states in this article were originally underestimated .
They ’ ve been fixed .
Help keep Vox free for all Millions turn to Vox each month to understand what ’ s happening in the news , from the coronavirus crisis to a racial reckoning to what is , quite possibly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our lifetimes .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
Even when the economy and the news advertising market recovers , your support will be a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work .
If you have already contributed , thank you .
If you haven ’ t , please consider helping everyone make sense of an increasingly chaotic world : Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that if you excluded blue states, America’s high number of Covid-19 deaths wouldn’t look bad compared to other countries. “If you take the blue states out, we’re at a level that I don’t think anybody in the world would be at,” he said at a White House press conference.
There are plenty of problems with this. It implies that the deaths of Americans who live in blue states don’t matter as much to Trump. It suggests that he doesn’t take any responsibility for deaths in the states that have a different political party in charge. And it’s generally absurd for Trump to act as though he’s not the president of the whole country.
But it’s also flatly false: When dividing states based on their 2016 votes for president, 11 of the top 20 states for Covid-19 deaths went for Trump. Overall, blue states fare worse with a death rate of 74 per 100,000 people, but red states still have a relatively high death rate, by global standards, of 49 per 100,000.
To put it another way: If you somehow “take the blue states out” and red states were their own country, they’d still be in the top 20 for Covid-19 deaths worldwide. Blue states would rank in the top five. Among only developed countries, blue states would be in the top five and red states would be in the top 10.
As a whole, the US is currently 11th worldwide and fifth among developed nations for Covid-19 deaths.
Individual states look even worse. If Republican-run Mississippi, with its Covid-19 death rate of 93 per 100,000, was a country, it would be in the top three globally, after San Marino and Peru. Democratic-run New Jersey and New York, with death rates of 181 and 168, respectively, would lead the entire world.
America’s coronavirus epidemic hit blue states particularly hard at first, especially in the Northeast. New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts are still the top three states for Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 people. (Massachusetts has a Republican governor.)
But the recent resurgence of Covid-19 hit red states hard too, unfortunately working to balance the scales in this grim statistic.
Trump’s comments are just another way that he’s tried to shirk responsibility for America’s Covid-19 epidemic as the national death toll nears 200,000, effectively shifting the blame to Democratic leaders. Previously, Trump told journalist Bob Woodward, “The virus has nothing to do with me. It’s not my fault. … China let the damn virus out.” Trump later told Woodward, “Nothing more could have been done.”
The reality is much more could have been done, but the president blundered at every step of the way. As cases climbed in the US, Trump abdicated problems with testing to local, state, and private actors; pushed states to reopen way too early to supposedly “LIBERATE” their economies; spoke negatively about masks while refusing to wear one himself; and backed unproven and even dangerous approaches to treating Covid-19, including injecting bleach. Each of these failures compounded and led to the current US death toll — and local and state governments, as hard as some tried, simply don’t have the resources to fight a pandemic on their own as the federal government flails.
The result: While the US hasn’t seen the most coronavirus deaths of all wealthy nations, it’s in the bottom 20 percent for deaths among them since the pandemic began, and reports seven times the deaths as the median developed country. If the US had the same Covid-19 death rate as, say, Canada, 115,000 more Americans would likely be alive today.
That’s on Trump, no matter how much he tries to shift the blame to blue states, China, and everyone else.
Correction: The Covid-19 death rates for both red and blue states in this article were originally underestimated. They’ve been fixed.


vox--2020-09-17--The stunning hypocrisy of Bill Barr

The stunning hypocrisy of Bill Barr

On Wednesday night , Attorney General Bill Barr gave a speech bemoaning the criminalization of politics , and criticizing some of his own Justice Department prosecutors for using “ novel ” legal arguments to charge people they disliked for political reasons .
Yet just hours before , news broke that Barr had asked Justice Department prosecutors to explore charging rioters with the rarely invoked crime of sedition — and that he ’ d even asked officials to explore whether they could criminally charge the Democratic mayor of Seattle for failing to quickly crack down on an “ autonomous zone ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That may seem like obvious hypocrisy .
But Barr ’ s speech wasn ’ t really an attempt to establish larger principles for how the Department should be run — it was an attempt to defend his own controversial actions in cases involving friends of President Donald Trump .
Speaking at a Constitution Day celebration for the conservative Hillsdale College , Barr crafted a narrative in which the Justice Department was filled with zealous prosecutors tempted to use dubious legal theories who badly needed “ supervision ” — by him .
The power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ carries inherent potential for abuse or misuse , ” and “ left unchecked , it has the potential to inflict far more harm than it prevents.
” This may make Barr sound like a criminal justice reformer .
But he is nothing of the kind .
He ’ s a conservative “ tough on crime ” Republican who supports aggressive prosecutorial tactics .
In this very speech , he took a passing shot at “ highly political ” district attorneys trying “ to remake state and local prosecutorial offices in their preferred @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barr ’ s words makes clear that the speech was a barely coded critique of several Justice Department investigations and prosecutions of President Trump and his allies over the past few years .
What Barr said in his Hillsdale speech The background here is that , before he was attorney general , Barr wrote a lengthy memo criticizing special counsel Robert Mueller ’ s investigation of President Trump for obstruction of justice .
After he was sworn in , Barr declared that Mueller ’ s findings — which were deliberately inconclusive on whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.
” Barr also questioned the charges that Trump ’ s longtime lawyer Michael Cohen violated campaign finance laws by arranging hush money payments for women who ’ d alleged sexual encounters with Trump .
Cohen had already pleaded guilty to those charges , so they ended up standing .
But , in two highly unusual moves in other cases involving Trump allies , Barr personally intervened to weaken the sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone , and he is seeking to throw out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Flynn pleaded guilty .
Barr has also fired or replaced key US attorneys in New York and the District of Columbia .
Barr ’ s speech Wednesday , then , was an attempt to argue that all of these actions on his part were not only defensible , but good and necessary .
His criticisms of excessive prosecutions and the criminalization of politics did not specifically mention the Cohen , Stone , or Flynn cases — but if there was any doubt about what he was referring to , he removed it by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s office.
” Barr made three main arguments in the speech .
1 ) I am the boss : First , he rebutted criticism that he was interfering with the decisions of line prosecutors by arguing that “ political supervision ” in the Justice Department was core to its legitimacy .
“ Name one successful organization where the lowest-level employees ’ decisions are deemed sacrosanct , ” Barr said .
“ There aren ’ t any .
Letting the most junior members set the agenda might be a good philosophy for a Montessori @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Attorney General , senior DOJ officials , and US Attorneys are indeed political .
But they are political in a good and necessary sense.
” And he added that the officials “ are supervisors .
Their job is to supervise .
Anything less is an abdication.
” All true enough , in general .
But the broader criticism of Barr isn ’ t just that he overrides lower-level prosecutors ’ decisions — it ’ s that he does so selectively and inappropriately , in a way designed to help the president ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is no known example of Barr intervening to change a sentencing recommendation for someone other than Roger Stone .
2 ) Prosecutors can get out of control : So having defended the theoretical legitimacy of his actions , Barr went on to try to explain a reason for them — that he ’ s intervening to rein in overzealous , out-of-control prosecutors .
Barr said that sometimes prosecutors can “ become deeply invested in their case and assured of the rightness of their cause ” — and then “ lose perspective.
” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consumed with taking down their target , ” Barr said .
“ If you are confident early on that the target committed serious crimes , there is always a temptation to will a prosecution into existence even when the facts , the law , or the fair-handed administration of justice do not support bringing charges.
” All this is why , Barr said , “ review by detached supervisors ” can be so important .
Again , all this is true about prosecutors in general but whether these criticisms really apply to investigations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has intervened in is a different question .
3 ) Prosecutors can advance dubious legal theories : Finally , Barr said , the Justice Department needs to stop advancing and defending “ hyper-aggressive extensions of the criminal law.
” “ The criminalization of politics is not healthy , ” Barr said .
“ The political winners ritually prosecuting the political losers is not the stuff of a mature democracy.
” He continued : “ Rather than root out true crimes — while leaving ethically dubious conduct to the voters — our prosecutors have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political process based on the flimsiest of legal theories.
” This was the most seemingly hypocritical part of the speech , given the reports that Barr had just recently asked officials to explore charging rioters with sedition and the mayor of Seattle with unspecified crimes .
But of course , Barr wasn ’ t referring investigations of those people — his remarks were aimed at the investigations targeting Trump ’ s team .
Again , Barr has previously argued that there was a dubious obstruction of justice investigation against Trump and a dubious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We can not let our desire to prosecute ‘ bad ’ people turn us into the functional equivalent of the mad Emperor Caligula , who inscribed criminal laws in tiny script atop a tall pillar where nobody could see them , ” Barr said .
He clarified that he wasn ’ t talking about “ the Al Capone situation , where you have someone who committed countless crimes and you decide to prosecute him for only the clearest violation that carries a sufficient penalty.
” Instead , he said , he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and then applying it to a criminal target in a novel way that is , at a minimum , hardly the clear consequence of the statutory text.
“ Barr also complained about “ ad nauseam speculation by legal pundits — often former prosecutors themselves — that some action by the President , a senior official , or a member of Congress constitutes a federal felony under this or that vague federal criminal statute.
” Of course , President Trump himself has often gone the furthest in demanding dubious or groundless prosecutions of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he hasn ’ t gotten any .
“ Our prosecutors have all too often inserted themselves into the political process based on the flimsiest of legal theories , ” Barr went on .
Yet here too , there seems to be a useful exception — Barr is reportedly pressuring US Attorney John Durham to release interim findings in his review of potential misconduct related to the Trump/Russia investigation before this year ’ s election , and has said he sees no problem in that timing .
Overall , many of the principles Barr @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yes , prosecutors can go too far .
Yes , the criminalization of politics is a worrying trend .
But it ’ s awfully convenient that , rather than shaping his thinking about the criminal justice system in general , Barr is mainly using all this as a way to defend his own interventions to help President Trump and his associates .
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On Wednesday night, Attorney General Bill Barr gave a speech bemoaning the criminalization of politics, and criticizing some of his own Justice Department prosecutors for using “novel” legal arguments to charge people they disliked for political reasons.
Yet just hours before, news broke that Barr had asked Justice Department prosecutors to explore charging rioters with the rarely invoked crime of sedition — and that he’d even asked officials to explore whether they could criminally charge the Democratic mayor of Seattle for failing to quickly crack down on an “autonomous zone” protesters established there earlier this summer.
That may seem like obvious hypocrisy. But Barr’s speech wasn’t really an attempt to establish larger principles for how the Department should be run — it was an attempt to defend his own controversial actions in cases involving friends of President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a Constitution Day celebration for the conservative Hillsdale College, Barr crafted a narrative in which the Justice Department was filled with zealous prosecutors tempted to use dubious legal theories who badly needed “supervision” — by him.
The power of federal prosecutors, Barr said, “carries inherent potential for abuse or misuse,” and “left unchecked, it has the potential to inflict far more harm than it prevents.”
This may make Barr sound like a criminal justice reformer. But he is nothing of the kind. He’s a conservative “tough on crime” Republican who supports aggressive prosecutorial tactics. In this very speech, he took a passing shot at “highly political” district attorneys trying “to remake state and local prosecutorial offices in their preferred progressive image.”
A close reading of Barr’s words makes clear that the speech was a barely coded critique of several Justice Department investigations and prosecutions of President Trump and his allies over the past few years.
What Barr said in his Hillsdale speech
The background here is that, before he was attorney general, Barr wrote a lengthy memo criticizing special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of President Trump for obstruction of justice. After he was sworn in, Barr declared that Mueller’s findings — which were deliberately inconclusive on whether Trump had obstructed justice — were “not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”
Barr also questioned the charges that Trump’s longtime lawyer Michael Cohen violated campaign finance laws by arranging hush money payments for women who’d alleged sexual encounters with Trump. Cohen had already pleaded guilty to those charges, so they ended up standing.
But, in two highly unusual moves in other cases involving Trump allies, Barr personally intervened to weaken the sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, and he is seeking to throw out the false statements case to which Michael Flynn pleaded guilty. Barr has also fired or replaced key US attorneys in New York and the District of Columbia.
Barr’s speech Wednesday, then, was an attempt to argue that all of these actions on his part were not only defensible, but good and necessary. His criticisms of excessive prosecutions and the criminalization of politics did not specifically mention the Cohen, Stone, or Flynn cases — but if there was any doubt about what he was referring to, he removed it by ad-libbing a criticism of “Mueller’s office.”
Barr made three main arguments in the speech.
1) I am the boss: First, he rebutted criticism that he was interfering with the decisions of line prosecutors by arguing that “political supervision” in the Justice Department was core to its legitimacy.
“Name one successful organization where the lowest-level employees’ decisions are deemed sacrosanct,” Barr said. “There aren’t any. Letting the most junior members set the agenda might be a good philosophy for a Montessori preschool.”
He also stated: “The Attorney General, senior DOJ officials, and US Attorneys are indeed political. But they are political in a good and necessary sense.” And he added that the officials “are supervisors. Their job is to supervise. Anything less is an abdication.”
All true enough, in general. But the broader criticism of Barr isn’t just that he overrides lower-level prosecutors’ decisions — it’s that he does so selectively and inappropriately, in a way designed to help the president’s friends. For example, there is no known example of Barr intervening to change a sentencing recommendation for someone other than Roger Stone.
2) Prosecutors can get out of control: So having defended the theoretical legitimacy of his actions, Barr went on to try to explain a reason for them — that he’s intervening to rein in overzealous, out-of-control prosecutors.
Barr said that sometimes prosecutors can “become deeply invested in their case and assured of the rightness of their cause” — and then “lose perspective.”
“Individual prosecutors can sometimes become headhunters, consumed with taking down their target,” Barr said. “If you are confident early on that the target committed serious crimes, there is always a temptation to will a prosecution into existence even when the facts, the law, or the fair-handed administration of justice do not support bringing charges.”
All this is why, Barr said, “review by detached supervisors” can be so important. Again, all this is true about prosecutors in general but whether these criticisms really apply to investigations of Trump and his team that Barr has intervened in is a different question.
3) Prosecutors can advance dubious legal theories: Finally, Barr said, the Justice Department needs to stop advancing and defending “hyper-aggressive extensions of the criminal law.”
“The criminalization of politics is not healthy,” Barr said. “The political winners ritually prosecuting the political losers is not the stuff of a mature democracy.”
He continued: “Rather than root out true crimes — while leaving ethically dubious conduct to the voters — our prosecutors have all too often inserted themselves into the political process based on the flimsiest of legal theories.”
This was the most seemingly hypocritical part of the speech, given the reports that Barr had just recently asked officials to explore charging rioters with sedition and the mayor of Seattle with unspecified crimes.
But of course, Barr wasn’t referring investigations of those people — his remarks were aimed at the investigations targeting Trump’s team.
Again, Barr has previously argued that there was a dubious obstruction of justice investigation against Trump and a dubious campaign finance investigation of Michael Cohen.
“We cannot let our desire to prosecute ‘bad’ people turn us into the functional equivalent of the mad Emperor Caligula, who inscribed criminal laws in tiny script atop a tall pillar where nobody could see them,” Barr said. He clarified that he wasn’t talking about “the Al Capone situation, where you have someone who committed countless crimes and you decide to prosecute him for only the clearest violation that carries a sufficient penalty.” Instead, he said, he is “talking about taking vague statutory language and then applying it to a criminal target in a novel way that is, at a minimum, hardly the clear consequence of the statutory text.“
Barr also complained about “ad nauseam speculation by legal pundits — often former prosecutors themselves — that some action by the President, a senior official, or a member of Congress constitutes a federal felony under this or that vague federal criminal statute.”
Of course, President Trump himself has often gone the furthest in demanding dubious or groundless prosecutions of his political enemies — though so far, he hasn’t gotten any.
“Our prosecutors have all too often inserted themselves into the political process based on the flimsiest of legal theories,” Barr went on. Yet here too, there seems to be a useful exception — Barr is reportedly pressuring US Attorney John Durham to release interim findings in his review of potential misconduct related to the Trump/Russia investigation before this year’s election, and has said he sees no problem in that timing.
Overall, many of the principles Barr put forward are unobjectionable in general. Yes, prosecutors can go too far. Yes, the criminalization of politics is a worrying trend. But it’s awfully convenient that, rather than shaping his thinking about the criminal justice system in general, Barr is mainly using all this as a way to defend his own interventions to help President Trump and his associates.