The 2020 election cycle was one of adaptation and innovation. Election administrators were tasked with ensuring that people could vote without jeopardizing the well-being of administrators, staff or poll workers. To accomplish this, they had to use contingency protocols that would have seemed implausible before the pandemic. These contingency protocols have made public officials rethink the ways elections have traditionally been conducted — and some of them may be here to stay. Contingency protocols ranged from the expansion of vote by mail to the proliferation of secure ballot drop boxes, early voting and curbside or“drive-through” voting. Voter satisfaction with these procedures runs high. According to a 2020 survey conducted by the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology Election Data and Science Lab, 60% of by-mail voters indicated that they were very likely to vote by mail in the future. Election administrators also utilized pandemic relief funding to facilitate remote observation of key election procedures. These procedures were intended to maintain transparency while also limiting staff and voter exposure to COVID-19. Although contingency protocols were authorized on a temporary basis, their positive perception among voters has served as the impetus for permanent change.
