FAIRFAX: Virginia voters queued for up to four hours Friday to cast ballots on the state's first day of early voting, turning out in force in the fiercely contested US presidential race. The state bordering the US capital Washington joined Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming in launching in-person early voting operations ahead of the November 3 election between President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Of the four states, closely-contested Minnesota was the focal point for both candidates, who headed there separately for campaign events as they sought to win over voters in the Midwestern battleground.

In Virginia, a line of some 300 people, many expressing a sense of urgency about this year's contest and the president's rhetoric about mail-in voting, snaked out the doors of the Fairfax County Government Center.

"There have been so many concerns about efforts to attack the post office and absentee voting, and efforts to interfere with voting, we thought we wanted to get our vote on the record as soon as possible," McLean resident Nell Minow told AFP. "We're taking no chances," her husband David Apatoff added.

Asked about standing in line for hours, sometimes in close proximity to other voters, Apatoff was adamant. "It's a risk worth taking," he said, noting how everyone was wearing masks. "There's nothing more important."