The single best way to increase voter turnout?

Abolish the polling place.

A century ago, the direct election of senators sounded audacious, too. But in six states, it’s already true that more than 12 million voters don’t need to traipse to polling places on Election Day or apply for absentee ballots.

The U.S. Postal Service delivers our ballots automatically, several weeks before each election. Voters can mail their marked ballots — sometimes even postage paid — or take them to one of hundreds of official ballot collection sites.

Since most voters choose the latter option, vote-at-home is a more accurate label than vote-by-mail. At many locations, voters can also receive replacement ballots, update their voter registration and get language or other assistance. For those so inclined, some sites still have voting booths.

Oregon rolled out its system in 1998 after voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure. Washington finished its county-by-county approach in 2012, while Colorado’s first vote-at-home election took place in 2014. Voters today also enjoy this system in 27 of Utah’s 29 counties and more than 40 counties in North Dakota, Nebraska and California.

Oregon and Washington weren’t battleground states in 2016. But even so, had every state matched our 80 percent turnout of active registered voters, 15 million more votes would have been cast nationwide.

Vote-at-home shines even brighter in lower-turnout midterm and primary elections. Both Oregon and Colorado exceeded 70 percent turnout in 2014 among registered voters, compared with the national average of 48 percent.

Source: Opinion | Voting at Home Will Help Save Our Democracy