Early voting for 2016 US election formally kicks off

Washington: Early voting for the 2016 US presidential election kicked off on Friday in North Carolina, ushering in a two-month period of advance voting before the final results will be tallied on Election Day on November 8.

From Friday on, North Carolina residents could submit absentee ballots by mail and in-person early voting would begin late October, Xinhua news agency reported.

Thirty-seven US states plus the District of Columbia allow voters to cast a ballot ahead of Election Day without having to offer an excuse to do so.

In recent election cycles, early voting, including mail-in ballots and in-person early voting, had become increasingly popular among various kinds of voters, with the share of voters who cast advance ballots increasing from 16 percent in 2000 to 35 per cent in 2012.

It is estimated that about 40 per cent of voters could choose early voting this year.