Share and Follow
KAMALA Harris and Donald Trump are battling against each other to become the 47th president and Election Day is just over six weeks away.
Not all Americans must wait until November 5 to cast their ballots on who will be the next commander-in-chief.
That’s because early voting has kicked off in some states.
Ballots started to be sent to Americans in Alabama who had requested a voting slip from September 11, as well as to voters currently overseas.
Alabama officials only issue absentee ballots to Americans who are ill or can’t cast their ballots when polling booths are open on Election Day.
Absentee ballots are being sent out to voters in Wisconsin. The process started on September 19.
Wisconsin is one of the seven battleground states Harris and Trump are battling to clinch.
Early in-person voting has now started in Virginia, Minnesota, and South Dakota.
Harris’ running mate Tim Walz is the governor of Minnesota and the state looks set to remain in the Democratic column if polls are to be believed.
No Republican presidential candidate has prevailed in the state since Richard Nixon in 1972.
Although Donald Trump finished less than two percentage points behind Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Virginia also looks likely to remain in the Democratic column and the state has not been carried by a Republican since George W. Bush in 2004.
Biden carried Virginia by 10 percentage points in 2020 but sources within the Trump camp told The U.S. Sun they were optimistic about clinching the state after the president’s shoddy debate performance in June.
Absentee ballots will be sent out to Americans who are overseas, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
Mail-in ballots will be sent out to voters in North Carolina from September 21.
Voting slips will be sent to voters in Michigan from September 26, as reported by The New York Times.
How to cast your ballot?
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will be fighting for every vote as Election Day nears. But Americans don’t have to wait until November 5 to cast their verdict on who they want to be the next president.
Not everyone can vote in-person at polling locations across the country.
Americans can vote via absentee ballots or can complete mail-in ballots.
Most states offer absentee ballots, but sometimes voters will have to provide a reason why they need one.
Americans who are serving in the military are among those who can vote by absentee.
Voters who physically cannot make it to their local polling station can also cast ballots by absentee.
Some states that offer mail-in voting automatically send out ballots to registered voters.
In battlegrounds such as Georgia and Nevada, early voting doesn’t kick off until October.
Early in-person voting in Georgia kicks off on October 15, while it begins on October 17 in North Carolina.
In Nevada, in-person early voting begins on October 19.
Ballots can be returned via mail, but officials in counties across states have warned Americans shouldn’t wait until the last minute to return their slips.
“The mailing time is not quick. Make sure you’re not mailing it out the week before the election,” Michelle Sidel, a clerk in Brown County in Wisconsin, told the Fox affiliate WLUK-TV.
Only a handful of states do not offer early voting to Americans.
These include Alabama, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and West Virginia.
Officials in states such as California and Hawaii automatically send ballots to registered voters.
Voting slips are also automatically issued to Americans in Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.
The timetable for when ballots are issued differs across the country.
In Florida, voting slips are mailed between 33 and 40 days before the election, while in New Hampshire it is 30 days before Election Day, as reported by The National Conference of State Legislatures.
Some states such as the District of Columbia and Tennessee don’t specify a timeframe.
While in Colorado, officials can start sending ballots around three weeks before the election.
DON’T BE LATE
Voters are being urged to return their ballots in a timely fashion.
General Louis DeJoy, the Postmaster General, has vowed the US Postal Service is ready to deliver the ballots.
“Let me be clear: The Postal Service is ready to deliver the nation’s mail-in ballots,” he said at a press conference, as reported by CNN.
DeJoy’s remarks came after appeared to cast doubt on the US Postal Service’s role in running the election in a Truth Social post.
Both Harris and Trump will be ramping up their campaigns in the run-up to November 5 as they try to convince voters why they should be the next president.
And, the race looks too close to call. Analysis by Real Clear Polling suggests Harris would clinch the presidency with 276 Electoral College votes if the election was held tomorrow.
But no candidate has a lead of more than two percentage points, on average, in any of the battlegrounds, per RCP.
Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina are in Trump’s column, while the rustbelt states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania seem to be leaning blue.
