Ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. midterms, early votes are piling up at an unprecedented pace. Taiwan's Liberty Times and others reported record-level turnout, and party-registration data show Democratic-registered voters participating more than Republicans.
Early voting in the U.S. midterms is running ahead of past midterm cycles. Taiwan's Liberty Times reported on Oct. 31 that early turnout is at a record level with Democratic supporters leading. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
광고 문의 · 300×250The National Desk, citing the early-voting tracker of University of Florida professor Michael McDonald, said more than 30 million early ballots had been cast by Oct. 26 afternoon, roughly half in person and half by mail. In the two dozen or so states that publish party registration, Democrats were 45%, Republicans about 30% and unaffiliated or other voters about a quarter. The data show who voted, not how they voted.
State figures
Citing The Hill, IBTimes reported that more than 23 million early ballots had been accepted nationwide by Oct. 23, versus more than 15 million at a comparable point before the 2022 midterms. In North Carolina early voting was up 37%, with registered Democrats up 47%, unaffiliated voters up 60% and registered Republicans up about 2.6%. A New York Times analysis cited there put Kansas up about 69%, Maine about 41% and Iowa about 24%.
Voz, summarizing figures from Oct. 28, said that through Oct. 27 Georgia had 2,097,834 early votes, including 2.0 million in person, Florida about 3.15 million and North Carolina 1,773,889. Georgia officials said in-person turnout is 22% above the same point in 2022. The Virginia Public Access Project counted nearly 930,000 Virginia ballots by Oct. 23, about 80% above 2022.
Limits of interpretation
McDonald said early voting is ahead of 2022 in nearly every state analyzed, with Pennsylvania and Tennessee as exceptions. Some analysts see Republican participation lagging in a few states; McDonald told The Hill that Republicans are not as engaged.
Experts nonetheless urge caution. High early turnout does not decide the result, and Republican voters, who lean more toward Election Day voting, could catch up late. Some states such as Wisconsin have not yet reached 2022 absentee totals, and University of Houston's Brandon Rottinghaus said of Texas that high turnout is necessary for Democrats but not sufficient. With variables such as mail ballot rejections remaining, the outcome cannot be called before counting.