17OCT

Virginia and Idaho open early voting

1 min read

17:30UTC

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

James Talarico's campaign

Talarico's campaign reported raising $56.34m in the quarter to Ken Paxton's $10.17m, and says he has been off the trail since 30 September with flu. Texas PAC, whose only donor is SLF, has spent $131.5m in the race, more than twice what the campaign spent.

Senate Majority PAC, spokesperson Lauren French

French said on 8 October that the Democratic super PAC was watching Kansas closely, but its booked airtime covers nine states and Kansas is not one. Whether SMP spends there decides if Adam Hamilton's 13-to-1 fundraising edge meets outside Republican money alone.

Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State

Raffensperger's office reported 188,667 in-person votes on the first day of early voting, a midterm record. He expects turnout to challenge 2022's near 4m.

Sam Hayes, North Carolina State Board of Elections

Hayes's board reported 1,392 SAVE flags, about 0.02% of the roll, and says no voter will be removed automatically. The board is asking flagged voters to cancel or prove citizenship by letter, while eligible voters keep the right to vote on 3 November.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Thune, the Senate's Republican leader, said the government-paid ads should not be funded by taxpayers. His objection puts the party's own Senate leadership against the administration on the DHS spending.

The White House and Donald Trump

The White House calls the five DHS ads public-service announcements with no call to action; Trump called them "rather standard", then said his political fundraising would pay. A White House official said there are no immediate plans to repay.

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