In-person voting for the US presidential contest is about to start as
Election Day closes in
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[September 20, 2024]
By STEVE KARNOWSKI
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Democratic and Republican national conventions
are just a memory, the first and perhaps only debate between Vice
President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is in the bag,
and election offices are beginning to send out absentee ballots.
Now come the voters.
Friday is the start of early in-person voting for the 2024 U.S.
presidential election, kicking off in Virginia, South Dakota and
Minnesota, the home state of Harris' running mate, Gov. Tim Walz.
The first ballots being cast in person come with just over six weeks
left before Election Day on Nov. 5. About a dozen more states will
follow with early in-person voting by mid-October.
“If I could wave a magic wand in this room right now, I would wish for
two things: Between now and November 5th, I want to see high turnout and
low drama,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said during a news
conference Thursday that previewed his state's efforts around the
election season. Simon also serves as president of the National
Association of Secretaries of State.
Across the country, local election directors are beefing up their
security to keep their workers and polling places safe while also
ensuring that ballots and voting procedures won’t be tampered with.
Officials and ordinary poll workers have been targets of harassment and
even death threats since the 2020 presidential election.
Federal authorities are investigating the origin of suspicious packages
that have been sent to or received by elections officials in more than
15 states in recent days, including Virginia.
As the start of early voting approached, Trump's rhetoric turned more
ominous with a pledge to prosecute anyone who “cheats” in the election
in the same way he falsely claimed they did in 2020, when he lied about
widespread fraud and attacked officials who stood by their accurate vote
tallies.
Trump has previously sought to sow doubts about mail voting and
encouraged voters to cast 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 voting as a way to lock
in GOP votes before Election Day, just as Democrats have done for years.
In Virginia. early in-person voting has long been popular in the city of
Chesapeake, especially during presidential elections, said its elections
director, Mary Lynn Pinkerman.
She expects early voting to help ease the crowds on Nov. 5, but also
cautioned that Election Day voting “is certainly not a thing of the
past” and that “voters could still encounter wait times.”
Fairfax County Elections Director Eric Spicer said roughly a third of
local voters came to the polls on Election Day during the 2020
presidential election, while the rest voted by mail or early and
in-person.
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"I Voted Early" stickers sit in a bucket by the ballot box at the
City of Minneapolis early voting center, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024,
in St. Paul, Minn. In-person voting in the 2024 presidential contest
begins Friday in three states, including Democratic vice
presidential candidate Tim Walz's home state of Minnesota, with just
over six weeks left before Election Day. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
"We call them our cicada voters who come out every four years,” he
said, adding that he expects this year's presidential race to drive
heavy turnout in his northern Virginia county.
In South Dakota, the top election official in Minnehaha County, the
state’s most populous, is planning for an 80% overall turnout. Extra
seasonal workers began Monday, and an early voting area was set up
in the county administration building in Sioux Falls.
County Auditor Leah Anderson said the presidential race and several
statewide ballot measures — including one that would enshrine
abortion rights in the state constitution and another to legalize
recreational marijuana — will attract voters.
“There’s a lot on our ballot,” Anderson said.
Many early voters might opt for early in-person balloting instead of
mail-in absentee ballots to ensure their votes get counted, given
the ongoing struggles of the U.S. Postal Service.
State and local election officials from across the country last week
warned that problems with mail deliveries threaten to disenfranchise
voters, and they told the head of the system that it hasn’t fixed
persistent deficiencies despite their repeated attempts at outreach.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy responded in a letter released Monday
that he’ll work with state election officials to address their
concerns, but reiterated that the Postal Service will be ready.
Simon urged voters to make their voting plans now. Mail delays vary
across the country, he said, so voters should request mail-in
absentee ballots early if they plan to vote from home, and return
them early. Some states count ballots as long as they’re postmarked
by Election Day, while Minnesota and other states count only the
ballots that arrive by the time polls close.
“My hope and expectation is that the USPS will do the things that we
have recommended, and do them quickly over the next 47 days because
the stakes really are high for individual voters,” Simon said.
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Associated Press writers Olivia Diaz in Fairfax, Virginia, Ben
Finley in Chesapeake, Virginia, and Jack Dura in Bismarck, North
Dakota, contributed to this story.
All contents © copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved
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