The state of Maine has a long tradition of making it easy for its citizens to vote. It is one of 21 states and the District of Columbia that allows same-day registration. There is no requirement for voter identification. It is also one of only two states that allows incarcerated individuals the right to vote. A recently passed automatic voter registration goes into effect in 2022.

As a result, Maine is rated sixth in the nation on the Cost of Voting Index (COVI) for its ease of voting. The states that rank higher than Maine on the COVI have one additional feature: mail-in voting.

The debate around implementing a system of all-mail voting has risen across the country because of the risks that in-person voting poses in this era of COVID-19. Should Maine then join the five other states (Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Utah) that currently conduct their elections almost entirely by mail?

The vote-by-mail system has recently gotten a lot of negative news coverage, from the highest places of power. President Trump, as well as Attorney General Bill Barr, have repeatedly claimed that mail-in voting will increase fraud. This concern should be taken seriously, but what does the science say?

All-mail voting is the process by which every registered voter has a ballot automatically mailed to their address. Unlike in-person voting fraud, whereby someone impersonates another voter to cast a ballot, the worry with mail-in voting is that someone will complete someone else’s ballot without their permission and submit it without the registered voter’s knowledge.

But much like the evidence that little to no in-person voter fraud happens, there is little to no evidence that mail-in voting fraud happens either. A little over 25% of American voters already cast their ballots by mail: 32 states including Maine allow their citizens to choose to vote-by-mail without having to provide an excuse. Both conservative and liberal think tank studies find few examples of fraud through mail-in voting. Many other studies have found the same.

Another claim among critics of mail-in ballots is that it is scheme to help one party win over another. President Trump claims that Democrats would be advantaged over Republicans.

But again, the science debunks this claim. A recent study looked at the effects of vote-by-mail systems on electoral outcomes in three different states: Washington, California, and Utah. It concluded that universal vote by mail does not appear to affect either party’s share of turnout or share of the vote. In other words, mail-in voting did not help one party over another. Multiple other studies have found the same.

And what about the potential benefits to a vote-by-mail system? Recent studies have begun to find evidence that vote-by-mail systems do increase voter turnout, especially among those who are least likely to vote: working-class voters, young people, and voters of color. These studies, however, are cautionary. Increasing participation through a vote-by-mail system is not as easy as simply mailing everyone a ballot. Colorado is considered the gold standard for how to implement an all-mail system. The state provides same-day registration; automatically updates voters’ addresses when they move; and allows voters to vote in-person or drop-off their ballots at sites across the state. It is the culmination of all of these characteristics that helped increase voter turnout in Colorado.

But do Mainers want to make the switch? In a recent Colby College poll, likely voters were asked whether they supported a switch to mail-in voting. Fifty-four percent of respondents stated that the state should make the switch either permanently or only for the 2020 election, while 36% stated that Maine should not switch at all. These effects, however, were largely driven by partisanship; 80% of Maine Democrats want mail-in voting either permanently or just in this election and 63% of Maine Republicans don’t want it at all.

So, what should Maine do? Currently, Mainers need to request an absentee ballot prior to each election, if they would like to vote by mail. The state could eliminate this step and simply send every registered voter a ballot automatically.

Now, whether the state can successfully implement this, along with providing in-person options and drop-off centers for Mainers before this November’s election is less clear.

But regardless of whether Maine implements all-mail voting in 2020, it should consider a vote-by-mail system in the future.

Carrie A. LeVan is the Montgoris Family Assistant Professor of Government at Colby College. She is a member of the Maine chapter of the national Scholars Strategy Network, which brings together scholars across the country to address public challenges and their policy implications. Members’ columns appear here monthly. These are her views and do not express those of Colby College.

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