Early Vote Nears 55 Million on Election Eve as Courts Turn Back Last-Minute Federal Ballot Challenges

November 2, 2026 · Category: Field & Elections

The 2026 midterms reach Election Day with a large share of the vote already in. As of Monday morning, 54.8 million mail and early in-person ballots had been cast nationally, about 24 million by mail and 30.8 million in person, according to NBC News' early vote tracker, which draws on TargetSmart and state data. Another 60.7 million mail ballots had been requested or sent. The University of Florida Election Lab puts the advance vote at more than 54 million, nearly 9 million more than in the last midterm, WESH reported. In the 27 states that report party registration, registered Democrats cast 43% of those ballots and registered Republicans 32%. Registration is not a vote, though, and the figures show who has voted, not how they voted.

The weekend's bigger story was in the courts. On Sunday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit that sought to block Alaska from certifying the Senate race if Sen. Dan Sullivan narrowly lost and votes for a second candidate with nearly the same name could have changed the result, Reuters reported. Gleason found the government lacked standing and that its plan to segregate and investigate ballots could not be squared with ballot secrecy. The department has said it will appeal.

California had already won its round. On Oct. 30, the Ninth Circuit rejected the federal bid to segregate mail ballots from about 20,000 voters the government calls likely noncitizens, according to Just Security's litigation tracker. A separate temporary restraining order in a union-led suit bars federal officials from threatening election workers with prosecution for counting ballots. The government has appealed, and a hearing on its request to stay that order is set for 11 a.m. Pacific on Monday.

Reuters described the cases as a break with decades of Justice Department caution about stepping into elections before votes are counted, noting that courts have now rejected the suits against both states. The department says it is enforcing federal law and not helping any campaign.

For voters who have not yet cast a ballot, the practical details are hours and lines. In Kentucky, polls are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time, and anyone in line at closing may still vote, the State Board of Elections says. Kentucky and Indiana, which both close polls at 6 p.m. local time, are among the first states to finish voting Tuesday evening. Results reported that night will be unofficial, and close contests may take days to count.

Why it matters

With most of the early vote already banked, the last day is about reaching voters who have not voted and getting mail ballots returned on time. Weekend rulings settled two of the most closely watched federal challenges for now, but appeals are still pending and could shape how results are certified after Tuesday.

Sources

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