As Ebbie said, absentee and early voting are two different things. It's much the same in my country. Canadian citizens can vote in elections in Canada provided they have that right (municipal, provincial, territorial or federal). Absentee voters are folks like military personnel, business folks, vacationers, etc., who are out of the country or area in which they would normally vote. Early voters are folks who expect to be away from where they would normally vote on the day of the vote.