- The 2020 presidential election is on November 3, but most states are now holding early voting.
- Early voting allows voters to both cast a ballot without having to rely on the Postal Service and avoid potentially long lines at their voting location on election day.
- See when early voting begins and ends in your state here.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The 2020 presidential election is on November 3, but the majority of states are holding some form of early in-person voting ending this week or on Monday.
Early voting ends on Friday, October 30 in Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Nevada, Texas, and some counties in Utah and on Saturday, October 31 in some counties in Florida, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens have states have made it easier to vote early or by mail. For the November election, nine states and the District of Columbia and many Montana counties will send all or most active registered voters a ballot through the mail that the voter can return to their election office by mail, in person, or to a secure dropbox.
But both the higher rejection rate for mail ballots over in-person votes and some operations changes that the United States Postal Service has made in response to their current financial woes are sparked worries that voters' ballots may not arrive back at their election offices in time or be rejected for other issues.
In light of the service disruptions at the Postal Service, major public figures including Barack Obama and Taylor Swift have now encouraged Americans to vote early if they can.
Most states give voters the option to cast their ballot early before Election Day, either by voting at a regular polling place, just as one would do on election day, or by casting a paper ballot early at their local elections office, which is sometimes referred to as "in-person absentee" voting.
Early voting allows voters to both cast a ballot without having to rely on the Postal Service and avoid potentially long lines at their voting location on Election Day, an attractive option for those concerned about mail delays and the convenience of voting on Election Day.
In addition to the states sending all or most voters a mail-in ballot, 26 states and D.C. are set to hold traditional early voting at polling places or vote centers, 15 states will allow voters to cast their ballots early at their local election offices, and eight states will hold no statewide in-person early voting (some individual counties in states like Alaba,a and New Hampshire are holding in-person absentee voting).
As noted on the chart, some states sending every voter a mail ballot will also hold in-person early voting before election day.
Many states have extended early voting as well as vote by mail due to the pandemic. Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott added nearly a week of additional early voting for the November election with an executive order.
And in Kentucky, which didn't hold no-excuse early voting before the pandemic, the state's Democratic governor and Republican Secretary of State came to a bipartisan agreement to hold three weeks of early voting from October 13 through November 2.
Some of the states that hold all-mail elections, like Washington and Oregon, don't have early voting and election day in the traditional sense we sometimes think of, but rather a three-week "voting period" where voters receive their ballots and can return them anytime by Election Day, or receive assistance filling out a ballot.
If you plan to cast a ballot early, be sure to double-check with your local elections office if early voting will be held at a polling place or at your county's election office, and verify the hours during which you can vote, since they may vary from normal Election Day voting hours.
Additionally, make sure to bring the necessary identification to the polls if you live in one of the 34 states that require a photo or non-photo ID to vote, prepare to wait in a longer line than you may be used to, and take necessary precautions like wearing a mask and frequently washing your hands to protect yourself and others. .
