Tag Archives: early voting

Early voting to start this week

Early voting in various states starts this week. The table below gives the schedule for early voting according to state. A majority of states do not require any excuse to allow its voters to vote early. Check your local election office for more details.

State

Early voting

Approx date for 2012

Reason required

Alabama Not allowed N/A N/A
Alaska Starts 15 days before election day at the Regional Elections Office October 22  Not required
Arizona Starts 26 days before election day October 11 Not required
Arkansas Starts 15 days before election day usually at the county clerk’s office October 22  Not required
California Start dates vary and are provided on the sample ballot sent by the county N/A Not required
Colorado Starts 15 days before election day October 22  Not required
Connecticut Not allowed N/A N/A
Delaware In-person absentee voting allowed N/A Valid reason required
Washington D.C Starts 15 days before election day October 22  Not required 
Florida Starts 15 days before election day October 22  Not required
Georgia Monday to Friday of week before election day October 29 – November 2 Valid reason required
Hawaii Starts two Tuesdays before election day October 23 Not required
Idaho In-person absentee voting allowed as soon as ballots available N/A Not required
Illinois Starts 15 days before election day October 22  Not required 
Indiana Starts 29 days before election day October 8 Not required
iowa Early voting starts as soon as ballots are available N/A Not required
Kansas Starts Tuesday before election day. Some counties start 20 days before election day October 30 or October 17 Not required
Kentucky Starts at least 12 days before election day October 27 Valid reason required
Louisiana Starts 14 days before election day and ends 7 days before election day October 23 – October 30 Not required
Maine Starts as soon as ballots are available N/A Not required
Maryland Starts second Saturday before election day October 27 Not required
Massachusetts Early voting using absentee ballot as soon as ballots are available N/A Valid reason required
Michigan Early voting not allowed N/A N/A
Minnesota In-person absentee voting starts 46 days before election day September 21 Valid reason required
Mississippi Not allowed N/A N/A
Missouri Not allowed N/A N/A
Montana Early voting using absentee ballot as soon as ballots are available N/A Not required
Nebraska Starts 35 days before election day October 2 Not required
Nevada Schedules vary by county N/A Not required
New Hampshire Not allowed N/A N/A
New Jersey Not allowed N/A N/A
New Mexico Starts 28 days before election day October 9 Not required
New York Early voting using absentee ballot as soon as ballots are available N/A Valid reason required
North Carolina Starts 3rd Thursday before election day. Known as One-stop absentee voting October 18 Not required
North Dakota Schedules differ according to county N/A Not required
Ohio Starts 35 days before election day October 2 Not required
Oklahoma Occurs on Monday and Friday before election day October 2 and October 5 Not required
Oregon Not allowed N/A N/A
Pennsylvania Not allowed N/A N/A
Rhode Island Not allowed N/A N/A
South Carolina Starts as soon as ballots are available N/A Valid reason required
South Dakota Early voting using absentee ballot N/A Not required
Tennessee Starts 20 days before election day October 17 Not required
Texas Starts 17 days before election day October 20 Not required
Utah Starts 14 days before election day October 23 Not required
Vermont Starts 45 days before election day September 22 Not required
Virginia Starts as soon as ballots are available N/A Valid reason required
Washington Starts 18 days before election day October 19 Valid reason required
West Virginia Starts 13 days before election day October 24 Not required
Wisconsin Absentee ballot starts as soon as ballots are available N/A Not required
Wyoming Starts 40 days before election day September 27 Not required

Update: Check out the in-person absentee voting location in VA here.