Yesterday opened Ohio's unusual week-long window in which voters can register and cast absentee ballots at the same time. Hundreds arrived in steady streams, part of a first wave of people already voting across the country, five weeks before Election Day.

Nationally, early voting, by mail or in person, is becoming more common and is likely to account for one-third of all votes cast in the November elections, up from 14 percent in 2000, predicts Paul Gronke, a researcher with the Early Voting Information Center in Portland, Ore. 

 Thirty-one states -- not including Maryland, Virginia or the District -- allow no-excuse early voting. Others allow absentee voting, by mail or in person, only with an excuse. In Oregon, all voting is done by mail.  Click here for more details: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/elect/absentearly.htm

All states offer voters the option of voting prior to the election.  In some states, the ballots are returned by mail.  This is referred to as absentee voting.  Other states permit voters to vote in person at the offices of county clerks or at other satellite voting locations.  This is referred to as early voting or in-person absentee voting.

Absentee voting is conducted by mail-in paper ballot prior to the day of the election.  While all states offer some version of it, there is quite a lot of variation in states' procedures for absentee voting.  For instance, some states offer "no-excuse" absentee voting, allowing any registered voter to vote absentee without requiring that the voter state a reason for his/her desire to vote absentee.  Other states permit voters to vote absentee only under a limited set of circumstances.

No-Excuse Absentee Voting
The following states permit any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot.  Voters are not required to state their reason or excuse for voting by absentee ballot.
 
Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Florida
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Mexico
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Oregon*
South Dakota
Utah
Vermont
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
 
Vote early if you can.  This election is going to be the highest turnout in recent history.  Avoid the lines, and take advantage of the early voting in your state.  For more details go to  http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/elect/absentearly.htm.