24SEP

Virginia and Idaho open early voting

1 min read

11:45UTC

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.

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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 →Georgia →Missouri →North Carolina →Watson v. RNC →Supreme Court of the United States →

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

Read story →

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

Read story →

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.

Different Perspectives

Missouri and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins

Missouri and Hoskins, held in contempt by the state's own supreme court on 10 September for prematurely reverting to HB 1, filed against a pause of the 8th Circuit's order restoring the same 2025 map.

Richard von Glahn and People Not Politicians

Von Glahn and People Not Politicians filed emergency application 26A388 on 22 September asking Justice Kavanaugh to pause the 8th Circuit's order restoring the 2025 map, days after Missouri mailed overseas ballots under the 2022 lines. A refusal to pause it would leave those ballots carrying the wrong districts.

Harmeet Dhillon, Justice Department

Dhillon said the department will send about 1,000 election monitors to Nevada, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island in November, calling it "the biggest DOJ election observer effort in history" and citing "67 election-related indictments and convictions" against 13 under the Biden administration.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and co-plaintiffs

The NAACP and eight other groups sued DHS in Washington on 18 September to keep ICE away from polling places, citing federal statutes barring armed officers and troops at elections. The suit follows a released 2025 DHS email listing non-English-language voting jurisdictions beside a Justice Department prosecution checklist.

Cook Political Report

Cook wrote that "the amount of money national Republicans have dedicated to this race is a flashing red light for Democrats" when it moved New Hampshire from Lean Democrat to Toss Up on 15 September, citing the NRSC's $5.18m for Sununu. It is the one state where Republican spending and the rating move the same direction.

Democratic Senate strategists

Strategists note the DSCC held a $37.6m cash lead over the NRSC's $18.7m at the end of August, after coordinating just $1.00m of spending itself. One reading holds the committee is banking that cash for the campaign's final weeks rather than matching Republican spending dollar-for-dollar in August.