Campaigns push early voting in case COVID-19 curtails fall turnout efforts

MINNEAPOLIS — Early voting starts in Minnesota, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming Friday as registered voters across the country continue to request and receive record numbers of absentee ballots.

Voters strolling into a polling station and casting a ballot 45 days before an Election Day isn’t a new phenomenon. But amid the coronavirus pandemic and virus-related mail delays, officials are bracing for a surge in people wishing to have their say regarding the Nov. 3 contests early and in person — and campaigns are encouraging it like never before.