Early voting
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| Select a state from the menu below to learn more about its voting policies. |
Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit no-excuse early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day. Some states allow voters to cast absentee ballots in person. States that allow in-person absentee voting without an excuse are counted below among no-excuse early voting states.
To see the arguments for and against early voting , click here.
The most important step in voting is knowing where and when to vote. Ballotpedia is committed to making sure everyone who wants to vote, can vote. Check the list of states below to find the contact information for your state Election Commission or Secretary of State's office. This information can be used to find more information about signing up for early voting or finding your local polling place.
Click here to see a comprehensive list of states that allow early voting.
Click here to find the contact information for your state election commission or secretary of state.
Click here for a list of upcoming election dates.
Click here for a list of frequently asked questions and answers.
Early voting by state
As of June 2023, 47 states and the District of Columbia permitted no-excuse early voting in some form:[1]
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- District of Columbia
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Missouri
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
States with all-mail voting
- See also: All-mail voting
Eight states – California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington – conduct what are commonly referred to as all-mail elections. In these states, voting is conducted primarily, although not necessarily exclusively, by mail. These states allow for in-person early voting by default (generally by allowing voters to return their mail-in ballots in person at municipal-level offices or vote centers).
Frequently asked questions
Support and opposition
The following quotes briefly summarize arguments for and against early voting. See our page, Arguments for and against early voting, for detailed support and opposition arguments from a variety of sources.
| Arguments for and against early voting | |||||||
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| Support | Opposition | ||||||
| "Early voting eases Election Day congestion, leading to shorter lines and improved poll-worker performance. It allows election officials to correct registration errors and fix voting system glitches earlier. And polling has shown that early voting enjoys popular support. ... [S]tarting in 2011, lawmakers in some states have sought to cut back on early voting. In many cases, these reductions have targeted voting days used heavily in African-American communities, such as the last Sunday before the election, when churches organize 'souls to the polls' drives. States that cut back on early voting have faced lawsuits and some rulings that the changes were discriminatory." - The Brennan Center for Justice (2018)[2] |
"Although voters may find early voting convenient, turnout data show that early voting may actually decrease turnout, not increase it. Early voting raises the costs of political campaigns, since expensive get-out-the-vote efforts must be spread out over a longer period of time. There is also no question that when voters cast their ballots weeks before Election Day, they do so without the same access to knowledge about the candidates and the issues as those who vote on Election Day. When there are late-breaking developments in campaigns that could be important to the choices made by voters, those who have voted early cannot change their votes." - Hans von Spakovsky of The Heritage Foundation (2017)[3]
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Upcoming election dates
| State | District | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| What's on your ballot? Enter your address into Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup tool to find out! | |||
| Arizona | Tucson | Tucson city primary | August 1, 2023 |
| Kansas | Kansas municipal and school board primaries | Kansas municipal and school board primaries | August 1, 2023 |
| New Hampshire | New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 1 | Special primary election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham District 1 | August 1, 2023 |
| Washington | Statewide primary | Statewide primary | August 1, 2023 |
| Washington | Mason County | Recall election | August 1, 2023 |
| Tennessee | Nashville | General election | August 3, 2023 |
| Tennessee | Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 | Special general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 86 | August 3, 2023 |
| Tennessee | Tennessee House of Representatives District 52 | Special general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 52 | August 3, 2023 |
| Tennessee | Tennessee House of Representatives District 51 | Special election primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 51 | August 3, 2023 |
| Tennessee | Tennessee House of Representatives District 3 | Special general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 3 | August 3, 2023 |
| Alabama | Jefferson County Commission District 5 | Special general election runoff for Jefferson County Commission District 5 | August 8, 2023 |
| Colorado | Custer County | Recall election | August 8, 2023 |
| Michigan | Lansing | Primary election | August 8, 2023 |
| Minnesota | Minnesota (statewide) | Special municipal election | August 8, 2023 |
| Missouri | St. Louis | St. Louis special election for ballot measure | August 8, 2023 |
| Missouri | Cole County | Cole County special election for ballot measures | August 8, 2023 |
| Mississippi | Mississippi statewide primary | Mississippi statewide primary | August 8, 2023 |
| Ohio | Ohio (statewide) | Special election | August 8, 2023 |
| Oklahoma | Tulsa | Special election | August 8, 2023 |
| California | San Diego County Board of Supervisors District 4 | Special election primary for San Diego County Board of Supervisors District 4 | August 15, 2023 |
| North Dakota | Horace | Recall election | August 15, 2023 |
| Alabama | Montgomery | Montgomery general municipal election | August 22, 2023 |
| New Hampshire | New Hampshire House of Representatives Grafton 16 | Special election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Grafton District 16 | August 22, 2023 |
| California | Monterey County | Special election | August 29, 2023 |
| Idaho | West Bonner County School District | Recall elections in West Bonner County School District Zones 2 and 4 | August 29, 2023 |
| Mississippi | Mississippi (statewide) | Mississippi statewide primary runoff | August 29, 2023 |
Note: An election date on the above list may have been scheduled initially but later canceled due to a lack of candidates or a lack of races advancing to a runoff, if applicable.
Early voting legislation
The table below lists bills related to early voting registration introduced during, or carried over to each state's regular legislative session this year. The following information is included for each bill:
- State
- Bill number
- Official name or caption
- Most recent action date
- Legislative status
- Topics dealt with by the bill
Bills are organized alphabetically, first by state and then by bill number. The table displays up to 100 results by default. To view additional results, use the arrows in the upper-right corner of the table. For more information about a particular bill, simply click the bill number. This will open a separate page with additional information.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
State election laws are changing. Keeping track of the latest developments in all 50 states can seem like an impossible job.
Here's the solution: Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Tracker sets the industry standard for ease of use, flexibility, and raw power. But that's just the beginning of what it can do:
- Ballotpedia's election experts provide daily updates on bills and other relevant political developments
- We translate complex bill text into easy-to-understand summaries written in everyday language
- And because it's from Ballotpedia, our Tracker is guaranteed to be neutral, unbiased, and nonpartisan
The Ballot Bulletin
The Ballot Bulletin is a weekly email that delivers the latest updates on election policy. The Ballot Bulletin tracks developments in election policy around the country, including legislative activity, big-picture trends, and recent news. Each email contains in-depth data from our Election Administration Legislation Tracker. You'll also be able to track relevant legislation, with links to and summaries of the bills themselves.
Recent issues
Click below to view recent issues of The Ballot Bulletin.
- The Ballot Bulletin: July 28, 2023
- The Ballot Bulletin: July 21, 2023
- The Ballot Bulletin: July 14, 2023
- The Ballot Bulletin: July 7, 2023
- The Ballot Bulletin: June 30, 2023
Subscribe
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See also
External links
- National Conference of State Legislatures, Voting Outside the Polling Place: Absentee, All-Mail and Other Voting at Home Options
- The Washington Times, Eight reasons for halting early voting
- Brennan Center for Justice, Early Voting: What Works
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 National Conference of State Legislatures, "Early In-Person Voting," March 23, 2023 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "ncslabsentee" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Democracy: An Election Agenda for Candidates, Activists, and Legislators," May 4, 2018
- ↑ The Heritage Foundation, "The Costs of Early Voting," October 3, 2017
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