THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

With a large population, many working hours and in locations that make it difficult to get to a polling place on a Tuesday in November, early voting is being eagerly accepted by many voters.

In North Carolina, which has a pivotal U.S. Senate contest at the top of the ticket, voting began Sept. 5 when absentee ballots were mailed to voters. As of Friday about 15,000 voters — the majority of them Democrats — had requested ballots ahead of Nov. 4.

On Thursday, Iowans, who will choose between Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley and Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst in a competitive race for an open Senate seat, began to vote both in person and through early absentee ballots. Already, more than 145,000 voters have requested absentee ballots, with Democrats outpacing Republicans by about 38,000 requests, according to the Iowa secretary of state's office. In 2010, Democrats in the Hawkeye State cast 19,000 more early ballots than did Republicans.

In September, states including Georgia and Minnesota will allow voters to cast ballots early. California and Arizona offer similar voting options in early October.

From Maine and Florida to Wisconsin and Alaska, 35 states allow voters to fill out ballots at polling stations or mail them prior to election day.

"In reality, the days of an actual election 'day' are long gone," said Michael McDonald, a political scientist at the University of Florida who specializes in elections and voter turnout. "It's a solid election month, if not more in some places, and will continue to expand."

Indeed, McDonald, who oversees the United States Elections Project, which closely tracks voting statistics, has found that ballots cast before election day increased from 4% in 1972 to 25% in 2010.

In Colorado, a new law instituting all-mail elections will receive its first major statewide test as Democratic Sen. Mark Udall looks to stave off a challenge from Republican Rep. Cory Gardner in a marquee race. The Colorado governor's race is also the focus of intense attention, as Democrat John Hickenlooper faces Republican Bob Beauprez. And the Denver suburbs feature a tight congressional race.

Anything that allows more people to cast their vote is healthy to our way of governing. And, as is traditional, the Democrats support these measures and the Republicans do all they can to halt them. If we can't have a nationable holiday to vote, then a month of election days will do just nicely.