How Georgia's controversial new voting law compares with other states

By Emily Hawley, Op-ed contributor Sunday, April 18, 2021

Early voting

The bill expands the three-week in-person early voting period for most Georgia counties. It adds mandatory Saturday early voting and optional Sunday early voting, according to the Georgia Public Broadcasting.

It also expands the hours these polling places are open, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

NPR reports that Colorado, where the MLB moved its 2021 All-Star Game to, offers only 15 days of early in-person voting, while Georgia offers 17 days of early in-person voting. However, Colorado votes by mail and most Colorado voters vote by mail or submit a mail-in ballot to a dropbox.

The date states allow for early voting to begin varies widely by state.

According to NCSL, early voting can begin as early as 45 days before the election in some states to as late as the Friday before the election.

Virginia offers the beginning of in-person early voting 45 days before the election, California provides 29 days of early voting and Massachusetts offers 11 days before.

Six states do not offer in-person voting before election day, including Connecticut, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

As of October 2020, the average starting time for early voting across all 50 states was 22 days before the election.

With the new election law, Georgia joins the District of Columbia and 23 other states that provide early voting on weekends. Twenty states offer voting on Saturday. Five states (Alaska, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Ohio) allow for Sunday voting. Five other states (California, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Massachusetts) make it an option for county clerks to be open on Sundays.