If you already know who you plan to vote for President in 2016, you can vote before the election – rather than having to wait in line and cast your ballot on November 8th.  The truth is, that you can vote before election day even if you are in the percentage of undecided voters that remain in the country as well.  Voting before the election has become more popular in the past 20 years, and is projected to continue that trend in 2016.  In person voting on election day can be a hassle, depending on your location and the time of day that you go to vote.  By voting before the election, you can avoid lines and people, while still successfully casting your vote for President early.

There are several different ways that you can vote before election day, but mail in ballots are the most popular.  You can request mail-in ballots to be sent to you, or pick them up at your local voting offices.  In order to vote via mail, you need to be registered within the correct state / county and follow the instructions to make sure that your ballot arrives on time.  For most people that plan to vote for the President in 2016, voting before the election is the most convenient option – but there are reasons why millions will cast their ballot on November 8th instead.

Most people simply don’t realize that they can vote before the election, or that early voting is an option almost everywhere in the United States.  More voters are familiar with “absentee ballots ,” which are slightly different than other early voting methods, with separate requirements.  If you fit these requirements, and have known which candidate that you want to vote for President for a long time, we recommend voting before the election.

There are lots of questions regarding how votes before the election are counted.  When are early votes counted?  The answer changes depending on the county – some locations wait until Election Day to count early votes, while there are rumors that some other’s never count ballots from before election day unless needed to determine a Presidential winner in that location.  In most cases, election results in individual counties aren’t that close, but the truth is that these ballots are in fact counted anyway.

Voting before the election can only go wrong if you change your mind on who you want to vote for President.  There is nothing that you can do if you cast your ballot early for one candidate, and then decide that you want to vote for someone else instead.  You cannot edit your vote for the Presidential election.  Perhaps you should practice voting for the President first?

Maybe you aren’t ready to actually vote for the President yet.  Maybe you are – but you want to take part in Presidential Polls too?  Now you can vote online in our Presidential Poll for free – it’s simple and fast to submit a vote for the candidate of your choice, and see the latest polling results.  Once you vote online in our poll, you may want to contact your local polling location for specifics on voting before the actual election too.