Message guidance for combatting disinformation about elections: 

Message 1: Maintaining Expanded Mail Voting Access 

• Vote-by-mail is safe and secure. Allegations to the contrary were disproven in every instance in 2020, both in court and by independent investigations. 
• No voter should sit out an election because they didn’t have a safe and accessible option for casting their ballot.  
• Vote-by-mail was the overwhelmingly popular choice of millions of voters in 2020. Voters want the option to vote from home. 
• In the 2020 Election, ballot drop boxes increased accessibility for many voters. They provide a safe ballot delivery option for people who want to limit their exposure or work non-traditional hours.
• Once the pandemic subsides, the need for voters to have a vote-by-mail option will remain. Vote-by-mail helps voters with disabilities, severe health issues, and inflexible work schedules have equal access to the ballot. 

Message 2: Relaxing/Eliminating Voter ID requirements 

• Voter ID laws deprive many voters of the right to vote.
• Many people do not have the type of ID states require voters to have. The elderly, people with disabilities, Americans with limited income, and young people all have disproportionate difficulty obtaining the type of ID that some states require to vote. 
• Voter ID laws can too easily become vehicles for discrimination against certain groups of voters because they restrict the types of IDs that people can use to vote. 

• Forcing people to carry a specific type of ID is the equivalent of a poll tax. 

• Elections have been run successfully for decades without an ID requirement. 

Message 3: Increasing Voter Registration Opportunities

• The more opportunities that exist to bring eligible voters into the system, the stronger our democracy will be. 
• When voter registration deadlines are extended closer to an election, they capture the most potential voters. This includes voters who need to change their registration because they moved or changed their name. 
• States should expand opportunities for registration, including automatic voter registration, online voter registration, and same-day voter registration. They should expand access to the ballot by offering adequate early voting and no-excuse absentee voting or vote-by-mail. 

Message 4: Cleaning Voter Rolls Responsibly 

• Voter rolls should be updated and maintained responsibly and in compliance with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). 
• Many states have purged people from the rolls because they haven’t voted, and that is in violation of the National Voter Registration Act.  
• No one should show up at their polling place to learn that they are no longer registered because they either sat out a few elections or didn’t receive notice of the need to re-register.  

• People have the right to vote, and people have the right not to vote. All eligible registered voters should remain in the system. 
• Any purges should be based on verified, reliable data. 

Solutions

• If state legislatures really want to secure and improve elections, they should invest in upgraded equipment, expanded staffing for election administrators, and training for poll workers. 

• The bottom line is this: our democracy depends on the participation of the people. The 2020 election showed us that expanding voter access increases participation. Voting expansions strengthen democracy, period. 
• States should expand opportunities for registration, including automatic voter registration, online voter registration, and same-day voter registration. They should expand access to the ballot by offering adequate early voting and no-excuse absentee voting or vote-by-mail. 
• Expanding voter access benefits all political parties. 

More resources

• Mis- and Disinformation Graphics 
• Talking Points: Countering Attacks Related to Vote-by-Mail 

• Talking Points: Protecting and Expanding In-person Voting and Vote-by-mail 
• Talking Points: Election Security