15SEP

Virginia and Idaho open early voting

1 min read

14:21UTC

Virginia, Minnesota, South Dakota and Idaho opened in-person early voting on 18 September, as Michigan and Wisconsin sent out postal ballots and Florida logged its first overseas returns.

← Back to Missouri's election chief held in contempt Jump to analysis ↓

PoliticsAssessed

Key takeaway

Americans are now voting in person in four states, so rulings land on ballots already cast.

In-person early voting opened on 18 September in Virginia, Minnesota, South Dakota and Idaho, 46 days before the 3 November election⁠¹. Virginia has added two Sunday voting days for 2026, 18 and 25 October, on top of its usual Saturdays⁠².

Michigan's general-election ballots began going out on 19 September, and Wisconsin clerks had to send absentee ballots to voters with requests on file by 17 September⁠³. Those follow North Carolina's first ballots on 4 September and Georgia's first overseas ballots on 15 September.

Florida had received about 150 of nearly 200,000 overseas and military ballots by 21 September: 63 from Democrats, 39 from Republicans and 26 from unaffiliated voters⁠⁴. Its domestic mail ballots follow between 24 September and 1 October.

Every court order from here lands on votes already cast somewhere. Missouri's map fight and the suits over ICE at polling places now run against ballots in hand rather than a printing deadline.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Voting for November's election has started in several states. In-person early voting opened on 18 September in Virginia, Minnesota, South Dakota and Idaho. Michigan began mailing out ballots on 19 September, and election clerks in Wisconsin had to get absentee ballots in the post by 17 September.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

Each state sets its own early-voting and mail-ballot timeline in state law, so the spread of dates across Virginia, Minnesota, South Dakota, Idaho, Michigan and Wisconsin reflects six separate statutory schedules rather than any coordinated national calendar.

the Supreme Court's 2026 ruling in Watson v. RNC upheld state mail-ballot grace periods but did not standardise when ballots go out, so the underlying timing variation predates and survives that case.

Sources:Virginia Department of Elections·Center for Election Innovation and Research·Michigan Public

Mentions:Virginia →Minnesota →South Dakota →Idaho →Michigan →Wisconsin →Florida →Missouri →North Carolina →Watson v. RNC →Supreme Court of the United States →Georgia (U.S. state) →

First Reported In

Update #18 · Republicans spend first, Democrats hold cash

Virginia Department of Elections· 24 Sept 2026

Read original →

Causes and effects

Caused by

North Carolina posts the first ballots

North Carolina's first posted ballots on 4 September opened the sequence of states now voting that this batch extends.

Occurred 4 Sept 2026

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Georgia mails its first overseas ballots

Georgia's first overseas ballots on 15 September were the previous state to start voting before this batch opened.

Occurred 15 Sept 2026

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This Event

Virginia and Idaho open early voting

With ballots now being cast, every court order on maps or polling places lands on votes already in hand.

Led to

Arlington sues over armed men at polls

Virginians have voted in person since 18 September at the sites the suit covers.

Occurred 20 Oct 2026

Read story →

Different Perspectives

Department of Justice (DOJ)

DOJ appealed to the 9th Circuit after Judge David O. Carter did not rule by a noon deadline on 22 October that DOJ itself had set, seeking to have California set aside mail ballots from more than 20,000 listed voters. Its case is that ineligible votes cancel lawful ones; the panel dismissed the appeal 2-1 on 26 October.

Lower Costs Now

Lower Costs Now reported $7.37m in Kansas on 24 and 25 October, part of $65.65m in Senate races since its first independent expenditure on 1 October, including $17.21m for Josh Turek in Iowa. Its FEC filings show $50.18m raised by 14 October.

MAGA Inc

MAGA Inc, the super PAC aligned with Donald Trump, filed $7.20m against James Talarico on 22 October, taking its Texas spending to $37.65m. Of that, $30.12m is against Talarico and $7.53m is for Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee.

Senate Majority PAC (SMP)

SMP's pre-general report shows it spent $108.70m from 1 to 14 October, including $65.0m to WinSenate and $10.0m to Texas Forever, and ended with $32.72m. Texas Forever has reported $19.40m against Ken Paxton since 1 October.

Senate Leadership Fund (SLF)

SLF's pre-general report shows $88.42m in cash on 14 October and $18.98m raised in the fortnight, none of it from Elon Musk. It has since reported $12.07m against Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and its $2.7m to Plains PAC preceded that committee's first Kansas buy on 25 October.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC)

The NRSC's pre-general report shows nothing spent with Ashley Hinson in Iowa, or with its nominees in six other states, from 1 to 14 October, after $5.54m with Hinson in September. It took no new loan and ended the fortnight with $25.20m in cash and $20m of debt.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.