Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Economy

Early voting means ‘election season’ may begin very soon

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.’

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.

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

The second is , 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.

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 sent to voters

Sept. 17

Georgia – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas

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

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

Oct. 24

Maryland – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 25

Delaware – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 26

Michigan, Florida, New Jersey, New York – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 30

Oklahoma – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 31

Kentucky – In-person absentee voting begins

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Enter Your Information Below To Receive Free Trading Ideas, Latest News And Articles.







    Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

    You May Also Like

    Stock

    Union members at Ford, Stellantis and General Motors have ratified a new 4½-year contract, locking in at 11% pay increases secured after a six-week...

    Investing

    ASX-listed Antilles Gold (ASX:AAU, OTCQB:ANTMF) is an Australian mining company focused on gold and copper projects in Cuba through joint ventures with the Cuban...

    Latest News

    A man accused of murdering his girlfriend in Boston before fleeing to Kenya has been re-arrested following his escape from a police station in...

    Latest News

    Slovakian police have charged a man in connection with the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Robert Fico, the country’s interior minister said Thursday. Fico...

    Disclaimer: Nationalfinancialnews.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.


    Copyright © 2024 nationalfinancialnews.com