70% of states offer mail and early voting, new report says

A new report examining voting access across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., finds that more than 70% of states offer all voters access to a mail ballot and early voting, while 15 others lag in the methods available to cast a ballot.

The data from the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), provided first to CBS News, shows that 35 states, plus Washington DC, provide the most access. Those states, colored green in the chart below, offer either all mail elections or no-excuse mail voting, along with access to some form of early in-person voting. These states span the political spectrum, including deep-blue states like California, battleground states such as Michigan and Republican strongholds like Wyoming.   Eight states, shaded yellow, fall into a middle category for access: they require an excuse to vote by mail, but they offer early voting.