The US elections are underway across the country and more than 76 million people have voted early so far, according to the University of Florida Elections Lab.
In many states, the push to vote before Election Day, whether by mail or in person, has led to an unprecedented wave of early voting.
More than 97,000 people voted on the first day of early, in-person voting in Wisconsin — an “unheard of” level of turnout, state elections commissioner Ann Jacobs wrote on Twitter/X. On October 15, the first day of early voting in Georgia, “the state broke records,” according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. On October 23, more than 1.9 million people had voted there in person or by mail. And in North Carolina, which had been devastated by Hurricane Helene just weeks earlier, more than 353,000 voters cast their ballots early on October 18 – another state record. On October 23, more than 1.7 million people had cast their votes.
Early in-person or absentee voting can give voters some flexibility in their schedules. By voting early, they can avoid dealing with bad weather, long lines, or unexpected scheduling conflicts on Election Day.
What is early voting?
States — with the exception of Mississippi, New Hampshire and Alabama — are offering all voters the opportunity to cast their ballot in person at a polling place before Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
At those locations, registered voters can go to their polling place within the early voting period and cast their ballot early. Most states begin counting ballots on Election Day, and some require officials to wait until polls close before they can begin counting.
Some states offer a version of early voting called “in-person absentee voting,” in which a voter can personally obtain and submit an absentee ballot at a polling place before Election Day.
What about absentee voting?
Most states allow some form of absentee voting, in which a voter requests a ballot in advance, which officials then mail to them to complete and return by mail. Some jurisdictions offer voters the option to return absentee ballots to a secure drop box. Fourteen states require an excuse for voters to vote by mail, such as illness or work scheduling conflicts. Eight states practice “all-mail” elections – in those places, all registered voters receive a ballot in the mail, regardless of whether they plan to use it.
Federal law requires states to send absentee ballots to military voters and voters abroad.
States regulate the “processing” and counting of absentee ballots; In most states, officials can process ballots immediately, which typically involves verifying the signature on the ballot with the voter’s signature from the time they registered to vote. Other states require officials to wait until Election Day before processing ballots — which could delay the release of election results.
When does early and absentee voting start this year, and how do I do that?
The first ballots for the general election have already been sent to voters in states including Wisconsin and Maryland, and to some eligible voters in Alabama. Voting by mail has stalled in North Carolina, where a legal battle over whether Robert F Kennedy Jr. whether or not to appear on the ballot paper has delayed the process. By September 21, election officials in many states will have started sending out absentee ballots.
The specific dates, locations and rules surrounding early and absentee voting vary by state, county and even municipality. First confirm that you are registered to vote, then contact your local elections office or check their website for more information about early voting and absentee voting.
Who votes early and by mail, and does this benefit one party over the other?
Research shows that before 2020, the implementation of postal voting did not benefit one party more than the other. But in 2020, as the pandemic raged, Democrats urged people to vote by mail to avoid exposure to Covid and fought legal battles to expand absentee voting in states where the practice had not yet begun. had been generally introduced. Meanwhile, in the months leading up to the election, Donald Trump falsely claimed the process was rife with fraud, likely scaring Republican voters away from this unlikely option.
Related: Delays at the US Postal Service threaten to disrupt the electoral vote, officials say
Ultimately, Democrats saw gains in counties that used mail-in voting during the 2020 general election, according to data from the Guardian and ProPublica.
In the aftermath of the 2022 midterm elections, when Democrats outperformed expectations and retained control of the Senate, Republicans began to reverse course on early voting — and have since continued to advocate for voters to embrace the process. The turnaround appears to have had an impact: In the swing states of Arizona and Nevada, Republicans slightly surpassed Democrats in early election turnout as of Oct. 23, according to data compiled by the Associated Press.
Is it safe to vote by mail?
Voting by mail is considered extremely secure in the US, and cases of mail-in voting fraud are extremely rare. In a 2020 column, election expert Rick Hasen noted that there were fewer than 500 examples of vote-by-mail fraud between 2000 and 2012, for every billion votes cast. (As the Brennan Center for Justice notes, this makes mail-in voter fraud less likely than being struck by lightning).
Although mail-in voting fraud is extremely rare, election officials across the country have expressed concerns about mail delays that could result in eligible voters’ ballots reaching election clerks after the deadline to count their ballots.
