Notes on this data

• Discretionary start dates: Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Vermont (mail ballot start) and Georgia and Florida (mail ballot start window set by local officials) publish a range rather than a single statewide start date. This chart plots the earliest date in each range.
• Excuse-required in-person voting: Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire (marked with *) require an eligible excuse to vote early in person, unlike the other 48 jurisdictions shown, which allow no-excuse early voting.
• Receipt deadline vs. postmark deadline: the mail voting window's end date is a ballot receipt deadline except in these postmark states, where a ballot postmarked by Election Day can still count if it arrives after: AK, CA, CT, DC, IL, MD, MA, NV, NJ, NY, OR, TX, VA, WA.
• Extended receipt windows: several states count postmarked ballots that arrive after Nov 3 — WA (Nov 23), IL (Nov 17), MD and AK (Nov 13), CA, NY, and OR (Nov 10), NJ and WV (Nov 9), MA (Nov 6), VA (Nov 6). The chart's mail bar extends to these dates; that is not the deadline to mail a ballot, only the last day it can be received and counted.

Watson v. RNC (resolved)

• On June 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in Watson v. Republican National Committee that states retain constitutional authority to set their own mail ballot receipt deadlines, including counting ballots postmarked by Election Day and received afterward. The Court found no federal law (including the 2022 Electoral Count Reform Act) preempts these state laws. The post-Election Day receipt windows shown above remain in effect as a result. Source: Campaign Legal Center, June 29, 2026.

Source and vintage

• Data: Center for Election Innovation & Research, Dates for 2026 Early In-Person and Mail Voting (published June 2026; underlying dates current as of April 8, 2026).
• Local election officials in most states have flexibility to set narrower or earlier windows than the statewide dates shown here — confirm county-level timing before using these dates operationally.