For the last several months, President Donald Trump has passionately criticized mail-in voting during the upcoming presidential election.
In tweets and during news conferences, Trump has claimed widespread voting by mail would lead to election fraud while at the same time defending absentee voting. And, on Aug. 4, the president encouraged Floridians to vote by mail and said the state's election system is "safe and secure."
RELATED: After criticizing mail-in voting, President Trump encourages Florida residents to vote by mail
It turns out, election experts say the difference between mail-in ballots and absentee ballots is a case of semantics. The terms are different depending on which state you're in, but the voting systems are essentially the same.
"No-excuse mail voting or absentee voting...is essentially the same thing," David Becker, founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said to CNN. "It doesn't matter whether you call it mail voting or absentee voting. It's the same thing."
The process of voting in an election without actually going to a polling place has been a hot topic of discussion in recent months and will continue to be ahead of the 2020 election. Health experts have said widespread voting by mail will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.
Here are the most common terms used to describe voting by sending a ballot in the mail:
Mail-in voting and vote-by-mail
Many states, including Florida, use these terms to describe sending a ballot through the mail instead of voting at a polling place.
In Florida, any eligible voter can request a mail-in ballot and vote by mail without needing an "excuse" to do so. But, not every state is like that.
While all 50 states allow voting by mail, some states require an "excuse" to get a mail-in ballot, like COVID-19 fears or not physically being in the county or state in which you are registered.
An analysis by The Washington Post found that more than 180 million American voters are able to vote by mail in the upcoming election.
RELATED: How to register to vote, find your polling place for the Florida primary and presidential election
Absentee voting
The original term for voting without physically going to a polling place, the first major use of absentee voting first began during the Civil War. Some states, like Wisconsin and Connecticut, passed legislation allowing U.S. soldiers to vote while away from home and forward their ballots to their state's governor or election leaders.
In the 1864 presidential election, about 150,000 Union soldiers were able to cast their vote while away from their respective polling places.
No-excuse absentee voting
As of 2020, 34 states and Washington D.C. allow this type of voting, which does not require an excuse to send in a ballot by mail. Other states have loosened their absentee voting requirements because of coronavirus concerns.
Still, more than a dozen states face lawsuits as advocates try to expand mail-in voting.
Universal vote-by-mail
Some states don't require voters to request or apply for a mail-in ballot, they just automatically send a ballot to every registered voter.
States that have universal vote-by-mail include California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Colorado, Vermont, Massachusetts and Hawaii.
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