In-Person Early Voting Starts in Three Key States

As the 2024 voting season begins, voters in several states can now participate in early voting. This opportunity became available on Friday, allowing residents to head to polling locations and election offices to cast their ballots.

Virginia is the first state to offer early in-person voting, which commenced on Friday and will remain available until November 2. This move is expected to attract many voters eager to make their choices ahead of Election Day.

In the last presidential election, Virginia saw over 1.79 million votes cast during early in-person voting, which represented about 40% of the total votes cast. Additionally, nearly 963,000 voters in Virginia submitted their ballots through the mail in the 2020 election, with around 574,000 of those mail-in ballots sent before Election Day, as reported by the Virginia Department of Elections.

As Virginia’s early voting moves forward, voters in Minnesota and South Dakota will also have a chance to participate in the electoral process. Starting Friday, residents in these two states can drop off their absentee ballots in person at designated locations or election offices, rather than relying on mail.

During the last presidential election, more than 1.9 million voters in Minnesota utilized absentee ballots, with 1.7 million of these ballots returned before Election Day, according to the state’s Office of the Secretary of State. This indicates a growing trend, as approximately 57% of all Minnesota votes in 2020 were cast before Election Day.

Interestingly, the state has not tracked how many voters chose to hand in their absentee ballots at election offices. Similarly, around 83,000 voters in South Dakota utilized in-person absentee drop-off before Election Day in 2020, according to the state’s secretary of state office.

This weekend marks a significant deadline for absentees, as several states are set to begin sending absentee ballots to voters who requested them. States like Idaho, Maryland, New York, and West Virginia are required to send these ballots by Friday, while North Carolina must send ballots to military and overseas voters.

Moreover, Delaware, Indiana, New Jersey, and Tennessee will send absentee ballots by Saturday. Some areas in Oklahoma may also start distributing paper ballots around this time, as per their election office notifications.

Experts are anticipating a high number of early voters in this election cycle, given the increasing embrace of advance voting options. The 2020 election saw over 69% of total votes cast through mail-in ballots or early in-person voting, a stark increase compared to previous years. In 2016, only 40% voted early, while in 2012 the figure was just 33%.