We’re in the midst of multiple seasons right now; Pumpkin Spice is in everyone’s coffee, football is back, and Election Season is in full swing, (which may or may not be on your mind). And, now, voting season is upon us, too!
Last week marked the kick-off of early voting in a number of states. Approximately 98% of the country has access to some means of voting before election day (by our math below), and some estimates suggest nearly 50% of voters use some form of early voting.
Are you one of them?
How many days do you need to vote early, or at least, how many days does each state legislature think you need?
State legislatures write the laws by which the state must operate. Those laws are usually executed by either the State’s Secretary of State’s office or an independent (often non-partisan) State Board of Election. As such, there’s 50 different ways we manage voting in the US. Some states have delegated even further, such that early voting can vary at the county level.
”Early voting” ranges widely across the country: in-person vs mail-only, any-person early voting vs absentee early voting, ballot request requirements, and even absentee reasons (excused vs unexcused). This analysis includes any voting that can occur before election day, so please keep in mind that we’re simplifying quite a bit here to the general number of days where one of the above options is available. No matter what, you should always check with your local county about your voting options. Download InformNation to help you get started.
Who gets the most/least time to vote?
On average, early voting lasts about 19 days, though most states offer around 15 days of early voting opportunities, calculated as the difference between the start and end dates of early voting. States that provide the most time for early voting—over 28 days—fall into the top 25% for duration, while those offering the least time—less than 12 days—rank in the lowest 25%.
Highest Early Vote Duration
The top three states with the highest early voting duration for any kind of early voting are:
Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Minnesota
Pennsylvania:
Technically, Pennsylvania offers 50 days of time where counties may make absentee and mail-in ballot applications available to voters in person up to 50 days before Election Day which may be dropped off in county offices until 8pm on Election Day. However, Vote.org specifically states that Pennsylvania does not offer early in-person voting.
South Dakota and Minnesota:
Voters have 46 days of “in-person absentee voting”. That window starts 46 days prior to the election day and remains open and available up until election day.
An honorable mention to Virginia and Mississippi, where eligible absentee voters can cast their ballot up to 45 days prior to the election, but they also close that down for a few days before the election.
The top 25th percentile of states by early voting duration here:
State | Early Voting Duration (days) |
Pennsylvania | 50 |
South Dakota | 46 |
Minnesota | 46 |
Virginia | 43 |
Mississippi | 43 |
Illinois | 40 |
Nebraska | 30 |
Montana | 29.5 |
California | 29 |
Wyoming | 28 |
Ohio | 28 |
Indiana | 28 |
NOTE: Vermont’s data conflicts between our sources, so it’s excluded from the above.
Lowest Early Voting Duration
The three states with the lowest early voting duration are:
Alabama, New Hampshire and Kentucky
Alabama and New Hampshire:
New Hampshire and Alabama do not offer early voting per usvotefoundation.org and vote.org.
Kentucky:
According to vote.org, Kentuckians have up to 5 days before Election Day to cast an early ballot, but it ends the Saturday before Election Day – leaving only 3 days to vote early. However, according to the US Vote Foundation, if properly excused from voting on election day, you can add an extra week to your early in-person voting, starting October 23rd.
The bottom 25th percentile of early voting duration:
State | Early Voting Duration (days) |
Alabama | 0 |
New Hampshire | 0 |
Kentucky | 3 |
Oklahoma | 5.5 |
Florida | 8 |
Delaware | 9 |
Maryland | 9 |
Michigan | 9 |
New Jersey | 9 |
New York | 9 |
Utah | 11 |
West Virginia | 11 |
Voting Duration and Toss-up States
Toss-Up states may play an outsized role in deciding key outcomes in the November election, and studies show that longer early voting duration with the right set of broader electoral reforms can correlate to higher voter participation. A partisan may see more early voting as a (dis)advantage, especially in Toss-up states, but most Americans probably just want to vote at their convenience.
While the duration for Toss-up states may appear to be less represented in the higher end of early voting duration, it actually is a fair representation of the population. Assuming states are weighted equally (a debate for another post*), the Toss-up group of states has a similar mean and median and no statistically significant difference (using the t-test) from the entire set.
* weighting by electoral vote concentration may yield a different result
Your Early Voting Duration
Where does your state falls on the spectrum of early voting duration. Is that enough time for you to vote? Whether satisfied or not with your early voting options, download InformNation to let your representatives know.
Conclusions or Questions
The national consensus is a median of around 15 days of early voting, but the complexity of voting rules is not accurately represented in the above data summary.
How much time is the right amount of time for early voting?
Two perspectives that might warrant further investigation:
The busy American’s schedule – How much time does it take to fit voting into life? How much early voting is needed to maximize participation? If the course of a week leading up to the elections is likely busy for the average American; we’re always busy! With work, kids, and other obligations, one week or even 10-11 days may not be enough to wait in line.
The operations of early voting – What is the trade-off for each incremental voting day? It may be excessively expensive or logistically cumbersome to have elections open for more than 30 days. There is likely a point of diminishing margin of return for duration to early vote.
While early voting is available in many states in some form or another, we should all consider what is the “right” type and amount of early voting to meet our needs. If you have ever missed a vote, think about why that may have happened and whether or not additional voting options would have allowed you to voice your opinion in the election.
Most importantly: You most likely have an option to vote before election day, so get InformNation to know when you can vote and take advantage of your options. Use InformNation to know about key registration deadlines, early voting, with links to official information and more. You can also use InformNation to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in your state and federal legislature.