In-person voting for presidential election begins in three states

The election season officially kicks off Friday with three states opening in-person early voting for the 2024 presidential election: Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia.

Over the past two decades, access to in-person early voting has expanded dramatically.

In 2000, only 24 states offered the option to vote in person before Election Day. Today, only three states offer no early in-person voting option.

Early voting has become a popular choice for many Americans, particularly in the home state of Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz.

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Minnesota has one of the highest voter turnout rates in the country.

Many early voters may opt to vote early in person rather than vote by mail to ensure their vote is counted, given the current difficulties at the U.S. Postal Service.

Since the last presidential election, polling stations have been stepping up security to protect local election officials and ensure that ballots and voting procedures are not tampered with.

Civil servants and ordinary election workers have been the target of harassment and even death threats since the 2020 presidential election.

Federal authorities are investigating the origin of suspicious packages that were sent or received by election officials in more than 15 states in recent days, including Virginia.

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As early voting approaches, Trump’s rhetoric has grown more ominous with promises to go after anyone who “cheats” in the election, much as he falsely claimed they did in 2020, when he lied about widespread fraud and attacked officials who stood by the accuracy of their vote counts.

Trump has previously tried to sow doubt about mail-in voting and encouraged voters to cast their ballots in person on Election Day. But this year, Trump and the Republican National Committee, which he now controls, have begun to embrace early and mail-in voting as a way to secure GOP votes before Election Day, just as Democrats have done for years.