Early voting means 'election season' may begin very soon

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Tuesday, Nov. 5, is Election Day – but if Americans vote like they did in the last two election cycles, most of them will have already cast a ballot before the big day.

Early voting had been expected to start Friday with North Carolina mailing out absentee ballots to eligible voters, though the state’s elections board indicated it would not send out ballots right away amid a challenge from former candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Still, multiple battleground states are scheduled to send out ballots to at least some voters later in the month, making September and October less a countdown to Election Day, and more the beginning of "election season."

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Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

States have long allowed at least some Americans to vote early, like members of the military or people with illnesses. 

In some states, almost every voter casts a ballot by mail.

Many states expanded eligibility in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it riskier to vote in-person.

That year, the Fox News Voter Analysis found that 71% of voters cast their ballots before Election Day, with 30% voting early in-person and 41% voting by mail.

Early voting remained popular in the midterms, with 57% of voters casting a ballot before Election Day.

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A voter fills out a ballot in Lake Orion, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Elections officials stress that voting early is safe and secure. Recounts, investigations and lawsuits filed after the 2020 election did not reveal evidence of widespread fraud or corruption. 

The difference between "early in-person" and "mail" or "absentee" voting.

There are a few ways to vote before Election Day.

The first is early in-person voting, where a voter casts a regular ballot in-person at a voting center before Election Day.

The second is voting by mail, where the process and eligibility varies by state.

Eight states vote mostly by mail, including California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. Registered voters receive ballots and send them back.

Most states allow any registered voter to request a mail ballot and send it back. This is also called mail voting, or sometimes absentee voting. Depending on the state, voters can return their ballot by mail, at a drop box, and/or at an office or facility that accepts mail ballots.

In 14 states, voters must have an excuse to vote by mail, ranging from illness, age, work hours or if a voter is out of their home county on Election Day.

States process and tabulate ballots at different times. Some states don’t begin counting ballots until election night, which delays the release of results.

Voting expected to begin in multiple battleground states in September

This list of early voting deadlines is for guidance only. In some areas, early voting may begin before the dates listed. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes, and deadlines, go to Vote.gov and your state’s elections website.

The first voters to be sent absentee ballots were expected to be in North Carolina, which had planned to begin mailing out ballots for eligible voters on Sept. 6, though the state elections board did not indicate on Friday when ballots would go out.

Six more battleground states are expected to begin early voting this same month, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada.

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Early voters cast their ballots in Ferndale, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

September deadlines

Subject to change. In-person early voting in bold.

TBD

• North Carolina - Absentee ballots sent to voters

Sept. 16

• Pennsylvania - Mail-in ballots ready for voters

Sept. 17

• Georgia - Mail-in ballots ready for voters

Sept. 19

• Wisconsin - Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 20

• Virginia - In-person early voting begins
• Minnesota, South Dakota - In-person absentee voting begins
• Idaho, Kentucky, West Virginia - Absentee ballots sent
• Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Wyoming - Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas

Sept. 21

• Maryland, New Jersey - Mail-in ballots sent
• Indiana, New Mexico - Absentee ballots sent
• Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas

Sept. 23

• Mississippi - In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent
• Oregon - Absentee ballots sent
• Vermont - Mail-in ballots sent

Sept. 26

• Illinois - In-person early voting begins & mail-in ballots sent
• Michigan - Absentee ballots sent
• Florida - Mail-in ballots sent
• North Dakota - Absentee & mail-in ballots sent
• Nevada - Mail-in ballots sent to voters outside the state

Sept. 30

• Nebraska - Mail-in ballots sent

October deadlines

Oct. 4

• Connecticut - Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 6

• Maine - In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
• Michigan – In-person early voting begins as early as today

Oct. 7

• California - In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
• Nebraska - In-person early voting begins 
• Georgia - Absentee ballots sent
• Massachusetts - Mail-in ballots sent
• Montana - In-person absentee voting begins

Oct. 8

• California - Ballot drop-offs open
• New Mexico, Ohio - In-person absentee voting begins
• Indiana - In-person early voting begins
• Wyoming - In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent

Oct. 9

• Arizona - In-person early voting begins & mail ballots sent

Oct. 11

• Colorado - Mail-in ballots sent
• Arkansas, Alaska - Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 15

• Georgia - In-person early voting begins
• Utah - Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 16

• Rhode Island, Kansas, Tennessee - In-person early voting begins
• Iowa - In-person absentee voting begins
• Oregon, Nevada - Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 17

• North Carolina - In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 18

• Louisiana - In-person early voting begins
• Washington - Mail-in ballots sent
• Hawaii - Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 19

• Nevada, Massachusetts - In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 21

• Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas - In-person early voting begins 
• Colorado - Ballot drop-offs open

Oct. 22

• Hawaii, Utah - In-person early voting begins 
• Missouri, Wisconsin - In-person absentee voting begins

Oct. 23

• West Virginia - In-person early voting begins
• Kentucky – in-person absentee voting begins as early as today

Oct. 24

• Maryland - In-person early voting begins

Oct. 25

• Delaware - In-person early voting begins

Oct. 26

• Florida, New Jersey, New York - In-person early voting begins 

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Oct. 30

• Oklahoma - In-person early voting begins