Early voting for the 2026 midterm election has already surpassed the number of ballots cast before Election Day in 2022, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.

As of midday Saturday, more than 51.3 million ballots had been cast ahead of Tuesday’s election. By comparison, 45.9 million ballots were cast before Election Day in 2022.

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The data suggest a growing preference among voters to cast ballots in person before Election Day. More than 28 million voters have already cast ballots in person, compared with about 20.5 million in-person early votes in 2022.

Among states that report party registration data for early voters, Democrats account for 43.2% of ballots cast, compared with 31.7% for Republicans. Independent and unaffiliated voters make up 25.1% of the early vote in those states.

Not every state releases a partisan breakdown of early voters. However, Democrats have improved their early voting turnout in 16 of the 25 states that have reported data.

The University of Florida Election Lab said the 2026 election continues a broader trend of voters casting ballots before Election Day, a shift that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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