US midterms: Early voting crosses record 47.9 million, Democrats lead Republicans

Nearly 47.9 million Americans had voted early by Friday (Oct 30) ahead of next week’s US midterm elections, setting a new record. Several key states have reported a sharp rise in turnout, while registered Democrats have cast a larger share of early ballots than Republicans.

Figures from the University of Florida’s Election Lab showed that 47,922,669 people had voted by midday Friday. This is higher than the previous midterm record of 45.9 million early votes set in 2022.

Early voting rises in key states

The increase has been especially strong in states with closely fought Senate races, where the results could decide which party controls the chamber for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term.

Texas recorded more than six million early votes by Wednesday. In-person voting was around 50 per cent higher than at the same stage in 2022.

North Carolina reported a nearly 37 per cent rise in early voting compared with four years ago. South Carolina had already crossed its total early vote count from the 2022 midterms, with five days of voting still remaining.

In Kansas, where Republican Senator Roger Marshall is seeking re-election, advance ballots were around two-thirds higher than in 2022 last week, according to the secretary of state’s office.

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Democrats lead in early voter share

In states that track voters by party registration, Democrats have accounted for around 44 per cent of early ballots. Republicans made up 31 per cent, while unaffiliated and minor-party voters accounted for the remaining 25 per cent, Election Lab figures showed.

In Georgia, women made up 56 per cent of early voters by Thursday, compared with 44 per cent for men. The state also broke its midterm record for early in-person voting that day.

“Georgians continue to head to the polls in record numbers because they trust the system,” top elections official Brad Raffensperger said on Thursday.