Early Voting Tops 53.6 Million by Noon Sunday, a Midterm Record, University of Florida Lab Reports

Early voting in the 2026 midterms passed 53.6 million ballots by noon Eastern time on Sunday, Nov. 1, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida, in figures reported by Barron's and opened by the desk this run. That is nearly 7.7 million more than the total 45.9 million who voted early in the whole 2022 midterm cycle, with Election Day still two days away.

The shape of the record is in-person. More than 29.8 million people had voted early in person and more than 23.9 million by mail as of the noon count. Of the voters in the 27 states that report party affiliation, 43 percent, or nearly 11.2 million, are Democrats, and 31.7 percent, or more than 8.2 million, are registered Republicans; about a quarter, nearly 6.6 million, are registered with neither major party, the Election Lab figures state.

The early electorate skews older: in the 14 states that report voter data by age, 43.2 percent of early voters are over age 65, 37.5 percent are ages 41 to 65, 13.2 percent are ages 21 to 40, and 6 percent are ages 18 to 25, according to the same figures.

Reuters, in its Sunday campaign file opened by the desk this run, put the same surge in the campaign's frame: more than 52 million Americans had already voted in person or by mail in its earlier count, a record for a midterm, up from nearly 46 million before Election Day in 2022, as voters prepare to decide all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats on Tuesday, Nov. 3. In Duval County, early voting ends today, Sunday, at the county's 24 sites; Election Day voting on Tuesday runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at assigned precincts. Early totals describe participation, not results - no candidate's votes are counted from these figures before Election Day.