Map Shows When Early Voting Starts in Each State

Millions of Americans will head to the polls on November 5 to make their choices in the 2024 elections. But many others will vote in the days and weeks before Election Day, with early voting already kicking off in some states.
Americans will make their voices heard in crucial elections, including the hotly contested presidential race between Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican nominee former President Donald Trump, with polls suggesting the two candidates are split by a razor-thin margin in key battleground states.
But the country’s direction will not only hinge on the presidential race. Americans will decide on thousands of elections, from local zoning boards to the U.S. Senate, that will play a role in the policies passed over the next few years and beyond.
Some ballots have already been cast in four states. Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia began early voting on September 20, while Vermont started tallying on September 21.
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Most states offer some form of early voting, which rose in prevalence in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Voters sought to vote either by mail or early to avoid large crowds on Election Day amid concerns of a postelection spike in cases of the virus.
This map shows exactly when early voting begins in each state in 2024.
Illinois will be the next state to open its polls ahead of the election, on September 26. California, Montana and Nebraska will follow suit on October 7. Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio and Wyoming begin early voting on October 8, and Arizona on October 9. Between then and November 5, more than 30 other states will offer early voting.
North Carolina will be the first presidential battleground state to offer early voting, on October 17.
Only three states will not have any form of early voting this year: Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire. Some states have their own early voting process. In Maine, anyone can vote absentee in the 30 days leading up to the election. Early voting in North Dakota and Pennsylvania is county-dependent, and Oregon conducts its elections by mail.
At least 28 states allow voting on some weekend days, which are decided by local and state officials.
Most states end early voting in the days leading up to Election Day, though a handful do allow it up until November 5.
In 2020, 69 percent of votes were cast either by mail or early voting, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The 2020 election may have seen an expansion of early voting, but many states allowed early voting far before the pandemic. Twenty-four states offered early voting in the 2000 election. That number grew to 47 in 2020, according to the Center for Election Innovation and Research.
Some states saw nearly all of their votes cast via early voting or mail-in ballots in 2020, according to the center. Colorado, Oregon, Hawaii, Washington, Montana, New Jersey and California were among the states with the highest rates of vote by mail or early voting four years ago.
Newsweek previously compiled a map showing voter registration deadlines in key presidential battlegrounds.