Early voting turnout shows strong interest in the 2026 midterm elections, as some states’ early-voting totals days before Election Day exceeded all early ballots cast in 2022.
This continues a decade-long trend of rising voter turnout that began with the 2016 election.
Early voting is conducted through early in-person voting and absentee voting by mail.
All states but Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire allow early in-person voting. All states allow absentee voting.
No-excuse absentee voting is permitted in 29 states. The rest require voters to provide a valid reason to vote absentee.
The District of Columbia and eight states conduct elections entirely by mail, meaning voters don’t need to request a ballot and instead receive one automatically. Those are California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington state….