Early Voting Rises as Cost Concerns Shape Battleground Races
WHO:
Newsweek - Democrats are seeking to flip GOP-held Senate seats.
NPR - Charles Stewart is a political science professor at MIT and founding director of the MIT Election Data and Science Lab.
NPR - Stewart spoke with NPR’s A Martinez on Morning Edition.
NPR - Treye Green edited the digital version.
WHAT:
CT News Junkie - Connecticut early and absentee voting exceeded 170,000 after four days.
CT News Junkie - Democrats, who make up 35.6% of the electorate, cast 54.2% of early in-person votes and 51.9% of absentee ballots.
CT News Junkie - Republicans, who make up 21.5% of registered voters, accounted for 16.9% of early in-person voters and 18.6% of absentee voters.
Newsweek - More than 13 million ballots had been cast early in the midterm elections.
NPR - Nearly 21 million Americans had cast ballots in the midterm elections, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, which tracks mail and in-person voting.
NPR - Stewart said early-ballot totals do not necessarily indicate that more people will vote overall, because many early voters would otherwise have voted on Election Day.
NPR - Stewart said the early-voting increase reflected both voter enthusiasm and campaign spending to encourage supporters to vote early.
NPR - Stewart said Democrats retained an advantage in mail voting, but the gap was smaller than in 2022 as more Democrats shifted to early in-person voting.
NPR - Stewart said Republicans had a slight advantage in early in-person voting, which could narrow.
NPR - Stewart said, “It also kind of reflects the large amount of money that's in this campaign that's going into retail politics, going door to door, and just making sure that supporters are energized.”
WHERE:
CT News Junkie - The early and absentee voting figures were reported for Connecticut.
Newsweek - Early turnout was surging in states with GOP-held Senate seats that Democrats hope to flip.
NPR - Stewart highlighted early-voting activity in Maine and Iowa, saying both states had not been major battlegrounds in recent elections.
WHY:
NPR - Stewart attributed voting activity in Maine and Iowa to voter enthusiasm and campaign efforts to mobilize supporters in places that had seen less political activity in recent years.
NPR - The articles identify costs as a leading voter concern, but provide no specific cost figures or further details.
HOW:
NPR - Early voting was conducted by mail and in person; Stewart said campaigns encouraged early voting through spending on door-to-door outreach and other retail politics.
(UPDATED October 24, 2026 02:10 UTC)
Nearly 21 million Americans have cast ballots in the midterm elections, with early voting surging in states where Democrats hope to flip Republican-held Senate seats. Political scientist Charles Stewart of MIT says the early-vote total doesn’t necessarily mean more people will vote overall, since many early voters would otherwise cast ballots on Election Day. He attributes the increase to voter enthusiasm and campaigns spending on door-to-door outreach and other efforts to mobilize supporters. Democrats still lead in mail voting, though by a smaller margin than in 2022, as more have voted early in person. Republicans have a slight edge in early in-person voting, which could narrow. In Connecticut, more than 170,000 early and absentee ballots were cast after four days. Democrats cast a larger share of both voting methods than their share of the electorate, while Republicans cast a smaller share. Stewart also highlighted activity in Maine and Iowa.
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(UPDATED October 24, 2026 01:28 UTC)
Nearly 21 million Americans have cast ballots early in the midterm elections, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, which tracks mail and in-person voting. Turnout is surging in states with Republican-held Senate seats that Democrats hope to flip. MIT political science professor Charles Stewart says the early-voting numbers don’t necessarily mean more people will vote overall, since many early voters might otherwise have voted on Election Day. He attributes the increase to voter enthusiasm and campaign spending to mobilize supporters, including door-to-door outreach. Democrats still lead in mail voting, but by a smaller margin than in 2022, as more have shifted to voting in person early. Republicans have a slight edge in early in-person voting, though Stewart says that could narrow. He also points to activity in Maine and Iowa, where campaigns are energizing voters in states with less political activity in recent years.