Early Voting Starts Oct. 24 in Michigan and New York: Dates, Hours and How to Find Your Site

Early in-person voting for the Nov. 3, 2026 general election starts Saturday, Oct. 24, in Michigan and New York, and runs nine days through Sunday, Nov. 1. It works like Election Day. You mark a paper ballot at a site and feed it into a scanner yourself. In Michigan, sites are open at least eight hours every day of the period. In New York, each county sets its own hours, and New York City has already posted its schedule. Below: the dates, how to find your site, ID and registration rules in each state, and a free printable plan.

Early voting dates in Michigan and New York

	Michigan	New York
Early voting	Sat., Oct. 24-Sun., Nov. 1, at least 8 hours a day	Sat., Oct. 24-Sun., Nov. 1, hours set by county
Find your site	Michigan.gov/Vote	voterlookup.elections.ny.gov
Where you can vote	Your assigned early voting site or sites	Any site assigned to your county; one assigned site in New York City
Registration deadline	In person at your clerk’s office through 8 p.m. Nov. 3	Received by Oct. 24
Election Day polls	7 a.m.-8 p.m.	6 a.m.-9 p.m.

Polling hours are local time. For every state’s closing time in Eastern Time, see what time polls close on Election Day.

Michigan: at least eight hours a day

Michigan voters added early voting to the state constitution in November 2022, and the first statewide early voting was the 2024 presidential primary. For federal and statewide elections, the required period starts on the second Saturday before Election Day and ends on the Sunday before it. Communities may add days, starting as early as the 29th day before the election, and beginning in 2026 they may also open on the Monday before Election Day. East Lansing and Grand Rapids were among the communities that opened sites early this year, the Michigan Department of State said on Oct. 20.

Look up your assigned site and its hours at Michigan.gov/Vote. In line at closing time? Stay there: you can still vote. Ballots cast at early voting sites are sealed every night and counted with absentee and Election Day ballots after polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.

Michigan: ID, registration and mail ballots

• ID: Bring a photo ID. If you do not have one, you can still vote after signing an affidavit.
• Registration: Online and mail registration closed on Oct. 19. You can still register in person at your local clerk’s office, with proof of residency, through 8 p.m. on Election Day. Early voting sites do not register voters unless the site is at a clerk’s office.
• Mail ballots: Clerks must receive your absentee ballot by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3; a postmark does not count. The state recommends hand-delivering it to your clerk’s office or assigned drop box, or bringing it to your early voting site.

By 7 a.m. on Oct. 20, 789,572 Michigan voters had already cast a ballot, 10.7% of active registered voters, nearly all of them by mail. Voters had requested 2,121,458 mail ballots, 17% more than at the same point before the 2022 midterm. For what is on the ballot, see our Michigan ballot guide and New York ballot guide.

New York: hours set by each county

Hours differ by county. Every county board of elections sets early voting hours for its own sites, so a site in Buffalo and one in Albany may open and close at different times. Outside New York City, you may vote at any early voting site assigned to voters in your county. In New York City, each voter is assigned to one site. Find yours, and your county’s hours, with the state’s voter lookup at voterlookup.elections.ny.gov or through your county board of elections. Early votes are counted and included in the unofficial totals on election night, the State Board of Elections says.

New York City early voting hours

Day	Date	Hours
Saturday	Oct. 24	9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday	Oct. 25	9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Monday	Oct. 26	9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tuesday	Oct. 27	10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Wednesday	Oct. 28	10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Thursday	Oct. 29	8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Friday	Oct. 30	9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday	Oct. 31	9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday	Nov. 1	9 a.m.-5 p.m.

The schedule is from the NYC Board of Elections and applies to all five boroughs. Check your assigned site first. It may not be your Election Day poll site.

New York: registration and mail ballots

• Registration: Mail and in-person registration applications must be received by a board of elections by Saturday, Oct. 24, to vote on Nov. 3.
• Mail ballots: Apply online or by mail by Oct. 24, or in person at your county board of elections by Nov. 2. Mail your ballot with a postmark no later than Nov. 3, or drop it off at any early voting site in your county from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1, or at a board of elections office or poll site by 9 p.m. on Nov. 3. New York counts mailed ballots that arrive by Nov. 10, as explained in when we will know the 2026 election results.

Make a plan

Our free one-page plan lists both states’ dates and rules, New York City’s hours, boxes for your site, day and time, and what to bring. Mark your day on our October 2026 printable calendar or November 2026 calendar, or plan the week on a weekly planner. Mail ballot rules for every state are in our mail ballot deadlines list, and the races on the ballot nationwide are in the 2026 midterm tracker.