Early Voting Turnout Surpasses 2022 Totals

Early voting for the 2026 midterm election reached 61 million ahead of Election Day. That’s about 15 million more than the early ballots cast in 2022, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.

Early votes cast include in-person and mail-in ballots returned before Election Day. In 2022, early voting accounted for roughly 40 percent of the 112 million total ballots.

As of Nov. 3, mail ballots that have been returned totaled 28.5 million, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.

Near the end of Election Day, 11 states have exceeded 60 percent of total votes in the 2022 midterm elections. Texas has approached 95 percent of the 2022 total ballots five days before Election Day. Oregon, Nevada, Montana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida have reached over 70 percent of the previous midterm totals through Nov. 2.

Among states that report party registration, more Democrats (42 percent) voted early than did Republicans (33 percent). Notably, more than a quarter of voters do not have party affiliation or reported a minor party.

For party split, this year’s voter demographics did not change much compared to the 2022 midterm elections, based on current data.

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In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic voters made up a smaller share of total ballots—less than 38 percent—while Republicans made up 36 percent, and just over a quarter were non-party voters.

Female voters had a higher share than male voters in early voting turnouts across five states, including Colorado, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Young people aged 29 or younger accounted for a small portion of votes in North Carolina (11 percent) and Pennsylvania (8 percent). Three-quarters of votes in these two states came from Americans aged 45 or older.

Gender and age composition in total voter turnout were somewhat consistent compared to the 2022 and 2024 elections.