say election officials ballot boxes are a safe and accessible way for voters in many states to return their mail-in ballots, but they have also been the subject of numerous conspiracies and attacks from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

Some say that vote primarily by mail have been using boxes for a long time, but at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020, several states offered them or extended their use.

Tamper-proof boxes are generally installed outside places like election offices, libraries and other government buildings, with rules about the chain of custody and how the ballots are collected. Many boxes are kept under surveillance. Some experts note they provide safer and faster ballot returns than the postal service.

An Associated Press poll of most states found no major issues with drop boxes in the 2020 general election.

But after Trump’s election defeat, the tapes became a target for baseless allegations of fraud, including the claim that Democrats stole the 2020 election by using vote “mules” to fill ballot boxes with fraudulent votes, popularized by right-wing commentator Dinesh D’. Souza’s book and film 2000 Mules.

The statements made in 2000 Mules have been proven false by law enforcement, election officials, and the media and its publisher stopped distribution of the film and book and apologized to a Georgia voter accused of illegally throwing multiple ballots into a box.

What to expect during the 2024 election

Compared to 2020, fewer people are likely to vote by mail in 2024, in part because of the shift to in-person early voting and in part because some states — including key swing states — have enacted restrictions on requesting and returning ballots by correspondence.

In Georgia, for example, lawmakers drastically reduced the availability of drop-off boxes after the 2020 election, limiting the number of boxes that can be given out and limiting their access to early voting locations and only during early voting hours. A 2022 NPR/WABE/Georgia Public Broadcasting analysis found that the restrictions disproportionately affected access in larger counties that are home to more Democrats and non-white voters.

In Wisconsin, a new liberal-leaning state supreme court in July canceled the speaker banbut Wisconsin election officials say only a fraction are offered this fallcompared to 2020.

On the other hand, Michigan changed its rules to facilitate voting by mail, including an increase in ballot boxes, while Nevada switched to a universal vote-by-mail system that made permanent some changes made during the pandemic .

right National Conference of State Legislatures27 states explicitly allow drop boxes, and 12 states—mostly in the South—do not.

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