States with the highest estimated rates of nontraditional voting in 2012 Oregon Note: Nontrad litional" voting includes absentee voting early Sources: U.S Election Ass istance Commission, Election Administration & Voting Survey, various years; state election
In several states, in fact, the “alternative” has become the norm. In 2012, there were 12 states – including several that are battlegrounds this year – in which nontraditional voting methods accounted for more than half the total vote. In North Carolina, for instance, early and absentee voting yielded nearly 2.8 million of the state’s total 4.5 million votes. In Arizona, nearly two-thirds of the 2012 vote was cast absentee. In Florida, early and absentee balloting each accounted for well over a quarter of the total vote; only 44% of Florida’s voters cast their ballots in the traditional way. And in Oregon and Washington, elections already were conducted entirely by mail (they’re being joined by Colorado starting this year).
In the 1970s and ’80s, states began experimenting with other types of nontraditional voting. Eliminating special residency requirements and the need for a specific excuse to vote absentee was a common first step: California, Oregon and Washington were among the first states to introduce “no-excuse” absentee voting. Today, 27 states and the District of Columbia offer no-excuse absentee voting, compared with just 11 in 1992.
States with the highest estimated  | rates of nontraditional voting in 2012  | 100%  | Oregon  | Washington  | 99  | Colorado  | 82  | Nevada  | 70  | Arizona  | 66  | Texas  | 66  | North Carolina  | 61  | 59  | Montana  | New Mexico  | 59  | Tennessee  | 59  | Note: Nontrad litional" voting includes absentee voting early  | voting and vote by-ma it.  | Sources: U.S Election Ass istance Commission, Election  | Administration & Voting Survey, various years; state election  | authorities; Pew Research Center analysis  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 