It's the only way I've voted for years. It's so nice to get my ballot and be able to take the time over a cup of coffee at home to research every candidate and proposition so that I'm making an informed decision.

The alternative is to give the ability to kneecap populated blue districts so that lines are 6+ hours long, dissuading people in those blue areas from voting. A real democracy requires voting to be easy, quick, and free, without prejudice. Voting by mail is the simplest and best solution for most people.

I'm not sure I've ever been nosey enough to ask other people how they vote, so you might be very surprised by how many people you know are voting by mail. Unless you're in a state that makes it complicated for no reason, it just doesn't make sense to waste so much time and energy on driving somewhere and standing in line and then feeling rushed in the booth or else risk a mistake that invalidates your ballot. Here in Virginia, I think it was just a one time application to receive my ballots by mail and I didn't need to cite any reason to qualify for it. It's just an objectively better process. You should look into how to do it in your state and try it for yourself. And if it's not easily available, you should be asking yourself why anybody would want to make it harder to participate in their democratic process. Forcing it to be an in person only option restricts it to people with enough time and money to be able to get to their polling place and spend significant time on what for others is likely a work/school day. It's targeted voter suppression.

Have lived in WA state. It's super nice and convenient. They send a pamphlet with all the candidates names and BLUFs a few weeks ahead of time, and then a ballot shows up in my mailbox. I do more research on the candidates, fill it out and either drop it off at one of the many drop boxes around town, or put it back in the mail. Honestly it keeps me more involved in local elections, because I can't really say I'd be remembering/prioritizing going to vote in person for the local races not in main election season.

Wut? When I registered to vote in California, they told me to check the box to vote by mail.

Why wouldn't you want the time to get the ballot early, do your research over weeks or months to slowly fill it out, and then send it out in your PJs?

I'm surprised it's not 9 out of 10 that vote by mail

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington (both the state of and DC) have all-by-mail voting. I imagine some of the particulars vary slightly, but in general you get a ballot a few weeks prior along with some associated info, and then either mail it back and/or drop it off somewhere. Presumably there are in-person locations available for edge cases, but the overwhelming majority of voters in those areas do so by mail.

Washington State only has vote by mail.

Oregon votes only by mail, I think maybe Washington too, that probably skews the numbers

I don’t know anybody that doesn’t vote by mail.

I do, seeing as I live on the other side of the world.