Early voting runs well ahead of 2022 in Texas, Kansas and other Senate battlegrounds

More than 13 million mail and early in person ballots had been cast nationwide through Oct. 20, compared with 9 million at the same point in 2022, an Associated Press analysis found. Texas was up 74 percent, with nearly 1 million ballots against roughly 550,000 four years ago, and Kansas more than doubled, with over 55,000 ballots against 27,000. Maine was up 39 percent, Ohio 30 percent and North Carolina more than 30 percent. Michigan and Georgia were high but similar to 2022, and Iowa was down about 6 percent.

The AP called the data "a snapshot of potential voter enthusiasm" and cautioned that some of the increase comes from states expanding early voting or releasing more data, that Texas does not report ballots by party, and that Ohio dropped its grace period for mail ballots, so voters must return them earlier.

By Thursday morning more than 18 million Americans had voted, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab, ABC News reported. ABC found that registered and modeled Democrats made up a larger share of early ballots than in 2024 in every state it examined except Alaska and Michigan, where the share was similar, and that early and absentee votes in Georgia and Iowa were about 18 points more Democratic than in 2024. ABC cautioned that the numbers do not show whether lower propensity voters of either party will turn out later, and that Republicans have historically been more likely to vote on Election Day.

Spectrum News reported more than 16 million votes in 41 states and Washington, D.C., about 10 million by mail and 6 million in person, and paired the numbers with closing messages on gas prices and the Iran war from Michigan Senate candidates Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers.