Early voting opens in several states as midterm ballots pass 5 million

Early voting for the Nov. 3 midterm elections is opening in more states this month, and roughly 5.1 million ballots had already been cast nationwide by mid-October, the Alaska Beacon reported, citing the University of Florida's Election Lab. That figure includes both mail and in-person ballots.

In Massachusetts, early voting started Saturday, Oct. 17, and continues through Oct. 30, according to Boston 25 News. Boston City Hall is serving as the city's main early voting site, with additional neighborhood locations. The station reported that all sites will offer electronic check-in, poll workers, interpreters and access for voters with disabilities.

Minnesota began a new form of in-person early voting on Friday, FOX 9 reported. Under a new state law, every county must offer at least one site where voters complete a short certificate and feed their ballot directly into a counting machine, as they would on Election Day. That differs from in-person absentee voting, which involves a longer form and envelopes reviewed later by officials. Officials in St. Louis Park told the station about 400 people voted early there on the first day, compared with about 100 daily under absentee voting. The Minnesota Secretary of State's Office reported more than 200,000 ballots cast statewide as of Friday morning.

"They like the option to be able to vote early," Paul Linnell, the state's director of elections, told FOX 9.

In Florida, early voting was set to begin Monday, WESH 2 reported. Orange County is opening 27 sites, which will run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Sunday, Nov. 1. County Supervisor of Elections Karen Castor Dentel told the station that registered voters may use any of those sites rather than their assigned precinct, and that voters can drop off or exchange mail ballots there. WESH 2 noted that about 2.2 million Floridians voted early in the 2022 midterms and that statewide turnout that year was 54% of registered voters. The race to succeed outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis and the contest for control of Congress could raise turnout, the station reported.

Advocacy groups are also organizing around early voting. The Alaska Beacon reported that organizers of the No Kings movement, which has held three large protests during President Donald Trump's second term, scheduled more than 2,500 events in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., on Oct. 17 to encourage early voting. Nearly 320 organizations are coordinating the effort, including Indivisible, Common Cause and the ACLU, according to the outlet.

The White House did not respond to the Beacon's request for comment and referred it to a Republican National Committee statement. In that statement, RNC spokesperson Ally Triolo accused Democrats of manipulating congressional maps and said Republicans were working to make voting easier and cheating harder.

Compiled by True News from reporting by Boston 25 News, FOX 9, WESH 2 and Alaska Beacon. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/175