In-person early voting for the U.S. midterm elections began on Monday in Washington D.C., while more than 23 million people across the country had already cast ballots by October 25, far surpassing the 15 million recorded in 2022.

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Early voting opened on October 26 across Washington D.C. and will run through every district until Sunday, November 1.

Residents who missed the online or mail registration deadline can still register directly at the polling center. That same-day registration requires a valid, recent proof of address, such as an official identification, a utility bill or a bank statement issued within the past ninety days.

RELATED: Trump’s Grip on Senate at Stake in 10 Key Midterm Races

District law also lets non-citizen residents who meet age and local residency requirements vote in municipal elections. They receive a separate ballot limited to district offices, including the Council, the Board of Education and the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.

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Maryland Ballots Advance

In neighboring Maryland, the early voting period runs through Thursday, October 29, with centers open daily from 7 A.M. to 8 P.M. local time. Voters there can also register the same day by showing a document that proves their current address.

Election authorities detailed the rules for those who prefer mail ballots or official drop boxes before the November 3 general vote. In Washington D.C., ballots must carry that date’s postmark or be deposited before 8 P.M.

Maryland set Tuesday, October 27, as the cutoff for requesting printed ballots at each county’s local offices.

Voters who miss the October 27 request deadline in Maryland can still cast a ballot in person during the early window or on November 3. The mail route, however, closes at that point for printed ballots.

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The midterm cycle has produced a sharp rise in early participation. As of October 25, more than 23 million people had voted early nationwide, up from the 15 million recorded in 2022.

After two years marked by unilateral decisions, a hardline stance on immigration, rising living costs and involvement in the war against Iran, Donald Trump’s administration now faces a ballot test that could strip Republicans of their absolute control of Congress.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are being contested. Republicans hold 218 seats against 214 for the Democrats, along with two vacancies and one independent seat occupied by Kevin Kiley after his departure from the Republican Party. That narrow margin leaves the chamber within reach for the opposition, and the surge in early ballots is being read as a measure of how much ground the ruling party could lose.

The early vote will keep building through the final weekend before November 3, when the full contours of the midterm electorate will emerge.

More than 10 million U.S. citizens have already cast ballots for the U.S. midterm elections, and Democrats account for over half of that early turnout as the November 3 vote approaches.

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General early voting began on Monday, October 19, led by Texas, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut and South Carolina. Hawaii, Louisiana, Utah, Wisconsin, Florida and Missouri have since joined.

Voters will decide seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, governorships, state legislatures and local measures on November 3.

RELATED: Texas Early Voting Breaks Records in Key Counties as Senate Race Heats Up

Democratic voters have shown up in force across several districts, a pattern party strategists read as an early effort to blunt the conservative agenda in Congress. That mobilization carries weight because the races will decide control of the Senate, the House of Representatives, several governorships and state legislatures, along with local ballot measures.

The opening surge unfolded amid deep polarization over the federal administration’s record. Turnout in the early states has outpaced expectations even as the national political climate remains volatile.

🎉 Double digits! We've just passed 10 MILLION early votes cast nationally in the 2026 midterms! 🗳️

Democrats 48.9% | Republicans 36.6% | Other 14.5%

And there are still 14 days to go until polls close. pic.twitter.com/0hxKEiMu9T

— E_DataGuy (@E_DataGuy) October 20, 2026

Divided Vote

In Alaska, polls will stay open for 15 days before Election Day. In Arkansas, the Secretary of State estimates early participation of half a million people. In counties such as Saline and Pulaski, early reports show a divided electorate: conservative voters back Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Senator Tom Cotton, who are noted for their alignment with President Donald Trump’s administration.

In Colorado, in-person voting centers opened on October 19 and four million ballots were mailed out. Preliminary records show that 13% of Democrats have returned their ballots, compared with 10% of Republicans and 7.5% of unaffiliated voters. Colorado is electing all of its main executive and legislative offices. Inflation, public safety, defense of social benefits and control of presidential power dominate the priorities mentioned by community organizations and independent voters in Arkansas and Colorado.

Florida prepares to open its mandatory in-person period on October 24, where Hispanic voters make up roughly 29% of the population and carry decisive weight.

Early voting for the midterm elections begins this week in these states:

— Alaska
— Arkansas
— Colorado
— Connecticut
— South Carolina
— Texas
— Hawaii
— Louisiana
— Missouri
— Utah
— Wisconsin
— West Virginia
— Delaware
— Maryland
— Florida
— Michigan
— New Jersey
— New York pic.twitter.com/YPYDIWpkNP

— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) October 19, 2026

Elections officials warned that, because of the complexity of the voting system, close races could be resolved only on November 18, when the count of ranked choices ends.

The early surge arrives as surveys show some of the lowest approval numbers of Trump’s current administration. The President’s backers have framed the midterms as a referendum on his governing record, while Democrats describe the contest as a check on executive power.

The record pace of early ballots has already surpassed previous benchmarks, with Texas posting one of the strongest showings. As more states open their voting windows in the coming days, the national count is expected to climb sharply before November 3, when the full scope of the midterm verdict takes shape.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | In the United States, analysts assert that the Trump administration is seeking to destabilize democratic-led states by instilling fear through immigration agents known as ICE, in an effort to manipulate the midterm elections and win them. pic.twitter.com/e5Dal77aj0

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) October 20, 2026

Pennsylvania’s 7th District, the Lehigh Valley region that includes Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, is one of the most competitive House races in the country. Democrat Bob Brooks, a firefighters union president, is challenging Republican incumbent Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, and how voters here feel could help decide who controls the House. Taya Graham and Stephen Janis spent several days in the district talking to the people who will determine the outcome.

Voters say high prices, a lack of affordable housing, and a Washington disconnected from working people are driving their vote. Two more specific issues are also shaping the race: proposed data centers, which residents say are being imposed on their communities without adequate review, and the Epstein files, which arrived in Bethlehem aboard the “Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile,” a traveling archive of the documents released to date. Underneath it all is a darker worry: that their votes won’t be counted.

Credits

Producers: Taya Graham and Stephen Janis
Writer: Stephen Janis
Editing/Post-Production: Stephen Janis

Transcript

Taya Graham: Pennsylvania’s 7th District is a diverse community stretching across the Lehigh Valley, but just before the midterm election, there is a common theme from residents that we spoke to.

Kathy: We are not liking what we see in our country.

Taya Graham: Anger and the desire for change.

Kathy: We’re not liking the effects of the things that are taking place in Washington, and therefore people are out trying to make a change.

Taya Graham: And how voters feel here could be critical to who controls the House. It is one of more than a dozen battleground districts, which is why we spent several days speaking to the people who will determine the outcome. Many said high prices, lack of affordable housing, and a disconnect between Washington and the concerns of working people were motivating their vote.

Valerie: But from what I see, a lot of people, including people that were always Trumpers or used to be always Trumpers, are actually changing their mind. They’re really upset. When they go to the grocery store, my grocery bills in the last year have tripled.

Taya Graham: But we also learned there are other more specific issues that could sway the election. Data centers have become a national issue, but the impact is truly local. Last week, the Bethlehem City Council met to approve more restrictive zoning regulations for data centers. The law would create wider setbacks from residential neighborhoods and limit noise levels. For some, data centers were the deciding factor on how they would vote.

Darcy: I actually see this as it being forced on us, it being forced on us quickly, it being forced on us without the proper studies and concern about the environment that honestly, I think it’s across the board, people don’t want them. And this is an issue that I think Republicans, Independents, and I think this is our stamp act.

Taya Graham: A unifying issue in an otherwise fractured electorate.

Mary Collier: Doors and on the phones across our turfs in Pennsylvania right now, affordability, housing and data centers are the top issues. I think there’s a lot of reasons to hate data centers, but the fact that 40% of Pennsylvanians can’t afford their bills right now, knowing that these things are going to raise their utility bills is a huge reason that it’s on people’s minds and they’re thinking about it going into this election.

Taya Graham: The race between Democrat Bob Brooks and Republican Ryan McKenzie is tight. The Cook’s political report gives Brooks a five point lead, but 16% of voters remain undecided. Neither attended the hearing. Brooks did make an appearance when the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial bookmobile visited Bethlehem. It’s a moving repository of Epstein investigatory files and emails that has traveled across the country. We asked Brooks if he thought that the Epstein scandal would impact voters.

Bob Brooks: I think they’re a huge factor. People of all walks and want to see these things released. I think it’s a huge issue. I know within my union, I’ve watched my union members feel like they’ve been lied to, and this is one of the big topics that they voted that way in the beginning and now they’re feeling lied to. So I think you’re going to see it be a really big factor.

Taya Graham: At another stop, residents agreed.

Krista: I wanted to see the 3.5 million books. I wanted to see what it was all about and that I can’t believe our leaders in our country are saying this is a hoax.

Taya Graham: However, looming over the district were other more foreboding concerns that democracy itself was on the ballot and that their vote would not be counted.

Cathy: I am going to vote by mail, but I’m going to put my ballot in a drop box as opposed to the mail because I don’t trust that process, which is ridiculous. The United States Postal Service, we feel like we can’t even trust that anymore.

Thomas: I think that there’s a strong possibility that they would block as many votes as possible.

Taya Graham: We will continue to be on the ground in this critical district as the midterms unfold. This is Taya Graham and Steven Janis reporting for you.

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