Nine states (in yellow) send out votes to every voter, unasked.
States in green allow a voter to request a mail in ballot--vice voting in person. You still have to ask for one.
Just six states — Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas (darker blue)— will require most voters to provide an excuse other than COVID-19 fears in order to vote by mail*.
Arkansas requires voters to submit a photocopy of their photo ID with their absentee ballot, and all Oklahoma voters and most Missouri voters casting ballots by mail must get their ballots notarized (voters who are incapacitated or confined due to disability and those who have contracted or are at risk for contracting COVID-19 are exempt from the notary requirement*).
Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Wisconsin will require voters to obtain one witness signature with their ballot. And Alabama requires voters to both submit a photocopy of their photo ID and either obtain two witness signatures or notarization for their ballot.
Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Virginia’s witness signature requirements have been suspended by officials or court rulings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic*.
The proportion of Americans electing to vote from home as opposed to in-person, either early or on Election Day, has steadily risen from 12% in 2004 to over 23% in 2016.
*The Covid related voting allowances are being challenged legally, as the CDC has declared the Covid-19 Pandemic officially over.