Overview
- Early in-person voting began Friday in Virginia while in-person absentee voting also opened in South Dakota and parts of Minnesota, and Illinois is set to begin broader early voting on Sept. 24.
- State election officials and experts have publicly reassured voters that systems are prepared and secure and urged people to use early or mail voting to avoid delays on Election Day.
- President Donald Trump has continued legal and administrative efforts to challenge voting methods and review voter rolls even after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his bid this week to restrict mail ballots.
- In states using in-person absentee voting, voters typically complete an application at the polling site and some ballots are counted later after officials verify the paperwork.
- New mid-decade redistricting and recent postal changes have raised the stakes for close House races, prompting voting-rights groups to urge early mail returns and making the early-vote period likely to decide tight contests.