Remember: Voting begins BEFORE Election Day

The Harris and Trump campaigns are anxiously counting the remaining days until Election Day. On the day this hits your inbox, their countdown clocks will read 78 days until the big day. However, recent election law changes mean that most Americans don't need to wait until November 5 to cast their ballots, making countdown clocks an ineffective way to gauge how much time campaigns have to make their case to the public.

47 States Allow Some Form of Early Voting

The 2020 election drastically changed the way most states hold their elections as the option of no-excuse early voting has expanded to the vast majority of American voters. In the 2024 general election, only 3 states (Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire) refuse to allow no-excuse early voting and require most of their voters to vote in-person on November 5. Meanwhile, millions of voters in the other 47 states will cast their votes well before Election Day.

The map above shows that voters in 34 states can begin voting as early as October 21, more than two weeks before the Election Day countdown clock hits 0. Even worse for campaign procrastinators, voters in nine states are likely to receive their ballots as much as 30 days or more before Election Day. This means that a late-breaking "October Surprise" may fail to jolt the race if it occurs after much of the country has already voted. It also means that presidential debates scheduled in early September are likely to be much more important in influencing voters than those held later in October after some have already submitted their ballot.

Start Dates for Swing States

Of the seven widely agreed upon swing states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin; the earliest to start voting will be Pennsylvania. County boards of elections in Pennsylvania must begin processing mail-in ballot applications by September 16 and can mail ballots to voters on any day thereafter, as soon as they are ready. Following Pennsylvania will be Arizona on October 9, slightly under 30 days before Election Day. After Arizona will be Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada which will start voting all in the same week; beginning on Oct 15, Oct 17 and Oct 19, respectively. Wisconsin and Michigan will begin voting the latest of the swing state group on Oct 22 and Oct 26.