Early in-person voting begins this week in DC. Here’s what you need to know.

It’s that time again. Early in-person voting begins today (Tuesday), and runs until Monday, November 2, ahead of the 2020 general election November 3. Check out where you can vote early in-person here. Polls are open from 8:30 am to 7 pm.

Despite our collected nail-biting in the presidential race, GGWash is here to help you sort through the down-ballot races that affect our daily lives. Many of you have already voted. As of October 26, 146,192 DC voters turned in their ballots either by mail or at designated drop off boxes. Check the status of your mail-in ballot here.

If you haven’t cast your ballot yet, here’s a reminder of what’s on the ballot and our endorsements.

DC Council

We have endorsed Robert White and Ed Lazere for DC Council at-large, and Randy Downs in Ward 2.

Advisory Neighborhood Commission

You can find your ward, ANC, and single-member district at ancfinder.org. Below, you can find who we’ve endorsed in contested races (see the GGWash-check). We gave stars to some candidates who had good answers to our questionnaire.

Ward 1

Ward 2

Ward 3

Ward 4

Ward 5

Ward 6

Ward 7

Ward 8

How to vote

This year’s election is like no other, but there are several options to vote in DC:

• Early in-person voting: Open from Tuesday, October 27 to Monday, November 2 from 8:30 am to 7 pm. (Maryland began early in-person voting Monday and runs through November 2, while Virginia’s early voting process begins 45 days before elections and ends October 31.)
• Election day in-person voting: Tuesday, November 3 from 7 am to 8 pm.
• Vote by mail: Any mailed ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday, November 3 and received by the 10th day after the election. If you haven’t received a ballot by mail, you’ll need to vote in person.
• Deposit ballot in one of the mail-in ballot drop boxes: Open now until 8 pm on Tuesday, November 3.

The Board of Elections (BOE) is sending a mail-in ballot to every registered voter. Anyone who isn’t registered can register to vote here or register in-person at one of the polling locations - same-day. Many Election Day polling places are not the same as in non-pandemic years past. Voters can check or update their registration status, find out more about voting and their polling places, at the BOE website.

This article was updated at 3 pm, October 28, to reflect the most recent number of DC voters who returned their ballot by mail or dropbox.