More than 43 million ballots had been cast early or returned by mail before the Nov. 3 U.S. midterms, an Associated Press (AP) tally showed, as control of Congress is at stake.
The comparison has a coverage caveat: AP's 2026 count included 47 states and Washington, D.C., while its 2022 figure included 48 states and Washington, D.C. The outlet said the newer tally was nearly 10 million higher and described its snapshot as five days before Election Day.
Texas recorded one of the largest gains in the AP analysis. More than 6.3 million Texans had voted by Oct. 28, 50% above the count at the same point in 2022, AP reported. In an Oct. 26 release, Texas Secretary of State Robert Howden said more than 4.2 million ballots had been cast by Oct. 24, about 22% of the state's 19 million registered voters. That covered the first six days of early voting, which ran from Oct. 19 through Oct. 30. The state said county-submitted totals were unofficial, could be delayed and could change. The new statewide count follows EconoTimes' earlier report on ballot gains in Kansas and Texas.
AP also found early voting above the 2022 pace in South Carolina by 83%, Kansas by 34%, Maine by 44% and Michigan by 32%. Kansas had about 83,000 more ballots and Michigan about 409,000 more than at the same point four years earlier, according to AP. The outlet noted that 2026 is the first midterm with statewide early in-person voting in Michigan.
In states that publish party affiliation, about 6.8 million registered Democrats and 5.2 million registered Republicans had voted early, AP reported. The figures count voters by registration and do not show their candidate choices. Texas voters also face a Senate contest between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico, while Republican Gov. Greg Abbott seeks reelection against Democrat Gina Hinojosa. Republicans held both chambers of Congress when AP published its analysis. Election Day is Nov. 3.
