Early voting tops 53 million ahead of US midterms

More than 53 million Americans have voted early ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections, surpassing the early-vote total from 2022 as closely fought races put control of Congress at stake.

The University of Florida’s election analysis recorded 53.14 million early votes as of Sunday morning, Al Jazeera reported. About 29 million were cast in person and 23 million by mail. Roughly 46 million people voted early in the 2022 midterms. The Guardian had reported more than 50.5 million votes by Saturday morning, already nearly 5 million above the previous midterm total.

Registered Democrats account for more than 11 million of this year’s early voters, compared with about 8 million registered Republicans, according to the university figures cited by Al Jazeera. Those figures do not reveal which candidates people chose. Early turnout also cannot establish what the final results will be.

Republicans are defending a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Democrats are seeking wins in states that usually favor Republicans, including Texas, Alaska and Kansas. The elections will also determine control of the House of Representatives for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Texas has recorded more than 7 million early votes, over 1.5 million more than in the 2022 midterms. In Harris County, which includes Houston, 862,700 people had voted by Wednesday, compared with 564,500 at the same point four years ago, according to an Associated Press analysis cited by The Guardian. Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton faces Democrat James Talarico in a closely watched Senate contest, while Republican Governor Greg Abbott is running against Democrat Gina Hinojosa.

Early voting is also up sharply in other states with Senate races. Compared with the same point in 2022, it has risen 83% in South Carolina, 34% in Kansas and 44% in Maine, according to AP figures cited by Al Jazeera. Michigan has recorded about 409,000 more early votes, a 32% increase.

Al Jazeera reported that national polls showed 51.5% support for Democrats and 43.1% for Republicans with two days remaining before Election Day. The Guardian described rising costs of food, gasoline and other essentials, the Iran war and concerns about government corruption as a backdrop to the vote.

Early voting offers alternatives to casting a ballot on Election Day. Forty-seven states and Washington, DC, offer early in-person voting, while every state permits voting by mail, though procedures vary. The University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement said convenience, campaign mobilization and election anxiety can all play a part in voters’ decisions to cast ballots early.

Trump has repeatedly questioned mail-in voting, citing claims of widespread fraud that have been debunked, Al Jazeera reported. In March, he signed an executive order seeking new mail-ballot envelopes with special barcodes. Democrats and activists challenged it, and the Supreme Court rejected his bid to impose the restrictions before the midterms, according to Al Jazeera.

Campaigning in Florida on Friday, Trump acknowledged the demands of supporting Republican candidates. “I thought this was it,” he said. “I thought I could relax. Twenty-eight days of this crap in a row is a lot. It’s a lot.”