The 2024 voting season officially kicked off Friday, as voters in three states can now line up at early voting polling sites or election offices to cast their ballot.Early in-person voting sites opened throughout Virginia, on Friday, marking the first state to offer their voters that option.The state's early voting sites will remain open until Nov.
2.Cornelius Whiting fills out his ballot at an early voting location in Alexandria, Va., on Sept.26, 2022.Andrew Harnik/APOver 1,796,000 votes were cast early in person in Virginia in the last presidential election, roughly 40% of the total vote, according to data from the Virginia Department of Elections.
An additional 962,877 Virginia voters cast their 2020 ballot through the mail, with roughly 574,000 submitting their mail-in ballot before Election Day, according to the election data.MORE: Early voting options grow in popularity, reconfiguring campaigns and voting preparationWhile the voters will be lining up at the polls in Virginia, voters in two other states will have the opportunity, starting Friday, to cast their ballot in person through a different method.Minnesota and South Dakota are among 23 states that allow voters to hand in their absentee ballots in person to an election office or other designated location instead of mailing them.Three-year-old Tristan watches as his mother Mariana Lindblom votes at Fire Station 5 in Maple Grove, Minn., Nov.8, 2022.Shari L Gross /Star Tribune via APIn the last presidential election, over 1.9 million Minnesota voters voted via absentee, with 1.7 million of those ballots being returned before election day, according to the state's Office of the Secretary of State.Roughly 57% of the total Minnesota 2020 election ballots were cast before Election Day, according to the state data.The office does not have data on the number of 2020 voters who opted to hand in their absentee ballot to an office.Roughly 83,000 South Dakota voters cast their ballot through in-person absentee drop...