Early voting begins this month, and these states are already sending out ballots

How will 2024 election be certified?

As we near the 2024 election in November, several battleground states like Georgia and Arizona are grappling with how they will handle certifying the election results. LiveNOW's Andrew Craft spoke about the election certification process with Jessica Huseman from Votebeat.

The presidential election season is well underway, with campaign ads and debates in full swing.

Tuesday, Nov. 5, is Election Day – but if Americans vote like they did in the last two election cycles, most of them will have already cast a ballot before the big day.

In fact, several states have begun allowing early voting already in September. Here’s what to know:

How to vote before election day

Depending on where you live, your state may offer one of the following ways to vote before Election Day:

Early in-person voting
Voting by mail, or sometimes called absentee voting

For the latest information on your voting eligibility, go to Vote.gov and your state’s elections website.

Where does voting begin in September?

Sept. 6 - Delaware, North Carolina

Sept. 16 - Kentucky, Pennsylvania (or when ballot is legally certified)*

Sept. 19 - Wisconsin

Sept. 20 - Arkansas, Minnesota*, South Dakota*, West Virginia

Sept. 21 - Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia*, Wyoming (45 days)

Sept. 23 - Maryland, Vermont*

Sept. 24 - Missouri

Sept. 26 - Illinois, Mississippi, North Dakota

*In-person absentee voting also begins in these states at this time, according to their respective Secretaries of State.

North Carolina ballot delay

Some of the first voters in the country to be sent absentee ballots were expected to be in North Carolina, which had planned to begin mailing out ballots for eligible voters on Sept. 6. But the ballots have been delayed while the legality of including Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name is still in play.

On Friday, the state election’s board filed an appeal with the North Carolina Supreme Court after it was ordered to remove Kennedy’s name from 2024 general election ballots and print new ones.

Last month, Kennedy announced he was suspending his 2024 presidential campaign, endorsed Trump for president and began a quest to get his name off the ballots.

RFK attempts to get off ballots in multiple states

On Friday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. won two appeals in his attempts to get his name removed from state ballots. LiveNOW's Andrew Craft breaks down this as well as other top political headlines with national political reporter Tom Lobianco.

North Carolina law required the first absentee ballots to be mailed or transmitted to those already asking for them no later than 60 days before the general election, making Friday the deadline. The process of reprinting and assembling ballot packages likely would take more than two weeks, state attorneys have said.

With Friday’s deadline not met, North Carolina election officials still are faced with meeting a federal law requiring absentee ballots go to military and overseas voters by Sept. 21. They may try to seek a waiver if new ballots can’t be produced in time.