A record 47.9 million voters cast early ballots in US elections — Asharq Al-Awsat
In the United States, 47,922,669 voters cast ballots early ahead of the midterm elections, which will take place next week. This is a new record for midterm elections: the previous one was 45.9 million votes cast before Election Day in 2022, Asharq Al-Awsat reports, citing the University of Florida’s Election Lab.
Turnout in states with competitive races
The increase in early voting is particularly noticeable in states where fierce competition is underway for Senate seats. The results of these races could determine which party controls the upper chamber of Congress during the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidential term.
In Texas, more than six million people had voted early by Wednesday. Turnout at polling stations was about 50% higher than at the same stage in 2022. In North Carolina, the number of early votes rose by nearly 37% compared with the figure from four years ago. South Carolina had already exceeded its total number of early votes from 2022 by Monday, even though five days remained before early voting ended.
In Kansas, the number of ballots cast in advance last week was approximately two-thirds higher than the 2022 level. There, Republican Senator Roger Marshall is running a difficult re-election campaign. In Georgia, in-person early voting on Thursday exceeded the state’s midterm election record.
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Party registration does not determine the result
In states that track voters’ party affiliation, registered Democrats accounted for about 44% of those who voted early. Republicans accounted for 31%, while voters with no party affiliation or members of minor parties made up 25%.
Election Lab director and political scientist Michael McDonald also noted more active voting by Black and Latino voters in states where the relevant data are available. He described turnout as particularly high in communities with predominantly Latino populations along Texas’ border with Mexico. In Georgia, women cast 56% of ballots submitted by Thursday, while men cast 44%.
At the same time, experts caution that party registration does not indicate which candidates voters supported. In addition, tens of millions of Americans may still vote on Election Day, when Republicans typically show higher participation. The increase in early voting also does not necessarily mean higher overall turnout, as some people may simply have voted earlier than in previous years.
