Polling station sign on a pole (illustrative)

Nearly 48 million Americans have already voted, beating the 2022 midterm early-vote record, as Trump reinstates his Kansas and Iowa rallies

October 31, 2026 3 Min Read

Featured image: a polling station sign. Photo: Phil Hearing / Unsplash (Unsplash License). Illustrative.

Nearly 48 million Americans had voted early in person or by mail by Friday, October 30, surpassing the 45.9 million early ballots cast before Election Day in the 2022 midterms, according to the University of Florida Election Lab as cited by Infobae, with three days left before the vote on Tuesday, November 3.

The numbers

The Election Lab counted 47,922,669 early votes through noon on Friday — more than one in five registered voters — while a Bloomberg report based on the same data put the total above 48.5 million. An earlier Associated Press analysis, cited by Al Jazeera, found more than 43 million votes five days before the election, nearly 10 million more than at the same point in 2022. The figures differ because they were taken at different times.

Several states show sharp increases. Texas had about 6.3 million early votes by Wednesday, against 4.2 million four years ago. Georgia passed 2.5 million ballots by Friday morning, breaking its midterm record. South Carolina’s early vote exceeded its entire 2022 early total with days still to go, and AP found rises of more than 30% in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas.

In the 27 states that record party registration, 44% of early ballots came from registered Democrats and 32% from Republicans, Infobae reported. Analysts caution that registration does not show how anyone voted, that Democrats traditionally lead the early vote while Republicans turn out more on Election Day, and that some of the surge may simply be people voting earlier rather than more people voting.

What the polls say

RealClearPolling’s national average of the generic congressional ballot has Democrats at 51.4% and Republicans at 43.2%, an 8.2-point lead, Al Jazeera reported. Kyle Kondik of Sabato’s Crystal Ball told the broadcaster the House is almost certain to flip to the Democrats, while the Senate is “much more up in the air”, with seven toss-up races likely to decide control. In Kansas, an Emerson College poll shows Democrat Adam Hamilton at 49% against Republican Senator Roger Marshall at 45%. Texas, Alaska, Iowa and Georgia are among the other closely watched contests.

Trump changes course

President Donald Trump has reversed his decision to cancel weekend rallies in Kansas and Iowa, which are now scheduled for Sunday, November 1, Al Jazeera said. He campaigned in Florida on Friday. This updates our earlier report on the cancellations.

Not everything is running smoothly: a lawsuit has been filed in Georgia over delays in delivering mail-in ballots, and mail-ballot requests have fallen in some states, partly because of a Florida law requiring voters to renew requests every two years.

Confirmed: the early-vote record and the poll figures cited. Pending: final turnout and the results on November 3; SagaTVec.lat will cover the outcome.

Sources

Mary del Castillo · International · Virtual editorial byline
English adaptation: Lin Wei · Editorial direction: Leonidas Ferraz · October 31, 2026 · AI-assisted writing