Voting in the 2024 presidential election is officially underway.
In-person early voting began Friday, September 20 in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, kicking off a six-week sprint to Election Day.
Exactly what it sounds like, early voting allows citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place before Election Day, or return an absentee ballot by mail or at an official drop-box. Forty-seven states permit no-excuse early voting, which means voters do not have to provide a reason for being unable to vote on Election Day.
In Minnesota and South Dakota, residents can vote early with an absentee ballot at their local elections office.
In Virginia, voters can cast a regular ballot in person at their local registrar's office. Absentee ballots can also be dropped off in person.
Voting early or absentee gives voters some flexibility on when they cast ballots, allowing them to bypass long lines on Election Day -- and many people are expected to take advantage of the opportunity. In 2020, roughly 57% of all ballots in Minnesota and 40% of ballots in Virginia were cast before Election Day, ABC News reported.
Minneapolis resident Chris Burda, 74, told The Associated Press she and others vote early "to avoid potential disruption on Election Day or in-person voting by a certain party who seems to be interested in poll watching to the point of intimidation."
Many people are also opting to return absentee ballots in person after election officials from across the country expressed doubt about the US Postal Service's ability to handle mail-in ballots. For its part, the USPS said it was "fully focused on the critical mission of delivering the nation's election mail."
USPS said it delivered 99.89% of ballots from voters to election officials within seven days during the 2020 election and 99.93% were delivered during the same timeframe in 2022. It also said it plans to implement extraordinary measures from Oct. 21 to Nov. 15, accounting for the weeks before and after the election, to further enhance timely delivery.