Early voting means 'election season' has already begun

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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.

Wisconsin kicks off early voting today; the first state to make absentee ballots widely available to voters. By the end of the month, more than half of all states will have ballots in at least some voters' hands, including Michigan and North Carolina.

It makes the next few months less a countdown to Election Day, and more the beginning of "election season."

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Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

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.

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A voter fills out a ballot in Lake Orion, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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

The second is voting by mail or absentee ballot, where the process and eligibility vary by state.

Eight states vote mostly by mail, including California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. Registered voters receive mail ballots and send them back.

Most states allow any registered voter to receive a mail or absentee ballot and send it back. Depending on the state, voters can return their absentee 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 begins 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.

Ballots will be made available to eligible absentee voters in Wisconsin starting today. The Midwestern state is one of the most competitive on the Fox News Power Rankings map. Virginia, Minnesota, and twelve more states kick off their early voting for at least some voters by the end of the week.

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Early voters cast their ballots in Ferndale, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Early voting timeline

Subject to change. In-person early voting in bold.

September 11

• Alabama Absentee voting begins. Excuse required.

September 16

• Kentucky Absentee voting begins. Excuse required.

September 19

• Wisconsin Absentee voting begins.

September 20

• Virginia Early in-person and absentee voting begins.
• Idaho, Minnesota, New York, South Dakota Absentee voting begins (including in-person).
• Wyoming Absentee voting begins.
• Arkansas, West Virginia Absentee voting begins. Excuse required.

September 21 

• New Jersey, Vermont Absentee voting begins (including in-person).
• Oklahoma, Rhode Island Absentee voting begins.
• Delaware, Indiana, Tennessee Absentee voting begins. Excuse required.

September 23

• Maryland Absentee voting begins (including in-person).
• Mississippi Absentee voting begins. Excuse required.

 September 24

• North Carolina Absentee voting begins.
• Missouri Absentee voting begins. Excuse required.

September 26

• Illinois Early in-person voting begins.
• North Dakota Absentee voting begins (including in-person).
• Florida, Michigan Absentee voting begins.

September 30

• DC Mail voting begins.
• Nebraska Absentee voting begins.

October 1

• Pennsylvania Absentee voting begins (including in-person).

October 4

• Connecticut Absentee voting begins. Excuse required.

October 6

• Maine Absentee voting begins (including in-person).

October 7

• California Mail voting begins (including in-person absentee).
• Montana Absentee voting begins (including in-person).
• Georgia Absentee voting begins.
• Nebraska Absentee in-person voting begins.
• New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas Absentee voting begins. Excuse required.

 October 8

• Indiana Early in-person voting begins.
• New Mexico, Ohio Absentee voting begins (including in-person).
• Wyoming Absentee in-person voting begins.

October 9

• Arizona Early in-person and absentee voting begins.

October 11

• Alaska, Massachusetts Absentee voting begins.
• Colorado Mail voting begins.

October 15

• Georgia Early in-person voting begins.
• Utah Mail voting begins.

October 16

• Kansas Early in-person and absentee voting begins.
• Rhode Island, Tennessee Early in-person voting begins.
• Iowa Absentee voting begins (including in-person).
• Nevada Mail voting begins.
• Oregon Mail voting begins.

October 17

• North Carolina Early in-person voting begins.

October 18

• Louisiana Early in-person voting begins.
• Hawaii Mail voting begins.
• Washington Mail voting begins (including in-person absentee).

October 19

• Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico Early in-person voting begins.

October 21

• Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas Early in-person voting begins.
• Alaska Absentee voting begins (including in-person).

October 22 

• Hawaii, Utah Early in-person voting begins.
• Missouri, Wisconsin Absentee in-person voting begins.

October 23

• West Virginia Early in-person voting begins.

October 24

• Maryland Early in-person voting begins.

October 25 

• Delaware Early in-person voting begins.

October 26

• Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York Early in-person voting begins.

October 28 

• Colorado, DC Early in-person voting begins.

October 30

• Oklahoma Absentee in-person voting begins.

October 31

• Kentucky Absentee in-person voting begins. Excuse required.

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TBC

• Louisiana, New York Absentee voting begins.