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Politics

More Than 51.3 Million Ballots Already Cast as Early Voting Passes the Full 2022 Total Before Tuesday’s Midterms

More than 51.3 million Americans had voted by Saturday afternoon, passing the entire early vote from the 2022 midterms before Election Day. In-person voting accounts for most of the increase, and Texas alone has passed seven million early votes.

By admin Nov. 1, 2026 · 9:41 AM ET 2 min read

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More than 51.3 million Americans had cast a ballot by midday Saturday, according to the University of Florida Election Lab, passing the 45.9 million ballots cast before Election Day in the 2022 midterm cycle. The count kept rising through Saturday, with voting still open in many states and mail ballots still arriving.

People walking toward the entrance of a brick building with two American flags on a sunny autumn day

In-person voting accounts for much of the increase. More than 28 million people had voted early in person by Saturday, compared with about 20.5 million across the whole early voting period in 2022, according to the Election Lab figures reported by Scripps News. The lab said the 2026 election continues a shift toward voting before Election Day that sped up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A hand placing a plain white envelope into a dark green ballot drop box on a sidewalk

Texas shows the largest increase

Texas shows the increase most clearly. More than seven million people in the state had voted early, about 1.5 million more than in the whole 2022 cycle, according to the Election Lab figures reported by The Guardian. In Harris County, which includes Houston, an Associated Press analysis found 862,700 people had voted by Wednesday, compared with 564,500 at the same point in 2022.

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In the states that report the party registration of early voters, registered Democrats have cast more ballots so far: 10.7 million Democrats compared with 7.8 million Republicans, according to the Election Lab data. Scripps News put the shares at 43.2 percent Democrats, 31.7 percent Republicans and 25.1 percent independent or unaffiliated voters in those states. The figures cover only about 27 states that report the breakdown, and party registration does not show how a person actually voted.

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What voters will decide on Tuesday

On Tuesday, November 3, voters will decide all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate seats. Republicans defend a 53 to 47 Senate majority. Early voting has already ended in some states and ends this weekend in others, and election officials advise voters with a mail ballot still at home to return it in person rather than rely on the mail at this point.

Polls open across the country on Tuesday.

Reporting based on coverage by TMJ4 and Zark News.

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