Early voting draws millions ahead of 2026 midterm elections

Millions of Americans have already voted in the 2026 midterm elections, with Texas reporting record early turnout for a midterm and Georgia approaching 1.8 million ballots cast, according to local outlets in several states.

In Texas, more than 4 million people had voted after one week of early voting, ABC13 Houston reported, calling the figure historic for a midterm. Four days of early voting remained, followed by Election Day.

Harris County had recorded more than 620,000 voters, or just under 23% of its registered voters, according to ABC13. That share was well above the county's pace at the same point in the previous midterm. It was still below the statewide rate and below several nearby counties, including Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston and Austin. Some rural counties had seen roughly a third or more of registered voters cast ballots, the station reported.

Political scientists interviewed by ABC13 warned against drawing firm conclusions from the early numbers. James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said "Republicans are more likely, historically, to wait until Election Day to vote," and predicted heavy turnout on that day.

In Georgia, state officials said nearly 1.8 million ballots had been submitted as the last week of early voting began, WSB-TV reported. The state's U.S. Senate candidates, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and Republican Rep. Mike Collins, focused on jobs and living costs. Both addressed Audi's planned $4 billion plant in Georgia, the automaker's first in the United States. Collins credited his work on the Port of Brunswick with helping attract the plant. Ossoff pointed out that the announcement came just days before the election and blamed tariffs and other policies backed by Collins for high prices. Collins blamed inflation during the Biden administration on Ossoff and other Democrats, according to WSB-TV.

In Kentucky, excused in-person absentee voting was scheduled to run through Wednesday, WKYT reported, with no-excuse in-person early voting open from Thursday through Saturday. Secretary of State Michael Adams told the station he expects turnout to be well below the 2024 presidential election. He said the state is using the same polling sites and the same number of poll workers as two years ago, so "we shouldn't have any lines to speak of."

At the national level, CBS Philadelphia reported that the CBS News Battleground Tracker showed Democrats on pace to regain control of the U.S. House, with about a week left before Election Day.

Compiled by True News from reporting by WKYT, ABC13 Houston, CBS Philadelphia and WSB-TV. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/494