Donald Trump last year publicly worried that the explosion in voting by mail during the pandemic would increase turnout so much that “you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.” But a new study shows the record rates of mail voting in 2020 didn't help Democrats or lead to an increase in voting.
The research is only the latest in a years-long number of studies finding no partisan benefit to mail voting. But it also draws the conclusion that making it easier to vote did not increase voting levels because voters were already highly motivated to participate in the 2020 contest. “We find a pretty precisely zero effect on turnout,” said Jesse Yoder, one of the study's authors and a Ph.D.