Ultimately, I’m trying to figure out the earliest date a vote can be cast, either by mail or in-person early, in any state for the November 3, 2026 general election. My Google-fu is failing me and can’t seem to find one convenient map that shows dates for early voting listed by state.
In what US state are ballots able to be cast earliest?
Going iteratively through this site: All States' Early Voting Dates Chart | U.S. Vote Foundation
South Dakota, Minnesota, and Virginia all have in-person absentee voting beginning on Friday 18 September. (This is not Early Voting, and I don’t know how easy each of these states make you able to qualify as absentee).
Those 3 states are considered “no-excuse” absentee, you just have to request it in time and it’s given.
I suppose it’s important to note that their terminology of “All mail election” in the footnote means that ballots are automatically sent to voters and you can fill it out and mail it back, but you don’t have to. For NV, you can drop by a polling place and convert that ballot to a traditional style, or if the mail gets lost you can do some paperwork that among other things, acknowledges that you’re not voting twice. I did basically that last election as mine was mangled so I surrendered it and voted at a rec center.
I just want to note the oxymoron here. How can voting be both in-person and absentee?
When you know you’re going to be absent on election day proper, you can vote in-person at an early voting place.
See the blue button at the bottom in the link for explanation. Or go here.