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Sure, Election Day is Nov. 5, but in-person voting has already started in three states: Minnesota, Virginia, and South Dakota. Voting there began on Friday. In Minnesota and South Dakota, voters can also turn in their absentee ballots in person now as an alternative to mailing them in. In Minnesota in 2020, 57% of the votes were cast early. By mid-October, another dozen states will be voting in person, and absentee ballots are also starting to go out. The election is not at some vague time in the future. It's right now. Here is a map showing when early voting starts by state.
Eight states have all-mail elections (that is, everyone is allowed to vote via mail, if they wish). These are California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington. If you want to stump your friends, ask them what Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire have in common. The answer is that none of them have early voting for all voters, although they make exceptions for certain voters.
Among other things, even if there is some kind of October surprise, the votes that have already been cast can't be changed, even if the people who cast them change their mind. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon (D), who is president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, said he wanted two things between now and November 5: high turnout and low drama.
In some states, early in-person voting and absentee voting are very popular. In Virginia, for example, two-thirds of the votes are usually cast early, either in person or absentee. Many people vote early to avoid crowds and long waits on Election Day. Early voting has become increasingly popular. Here is a graph showing how it has increased over time:
As you can see, in 2022, after COVID was no longer ruling the land, Election Day voting sprung back to where it would have been had there not been a pandemic. Nevertheless, for the first time other than 2020, more votes were cast early in 2022 than on Election Day. Election experts expect the trend to continue. (V)