WASHINGTON (AP) — Early voting is significantly outpacing the last midterm election, with millions more Americans casting ballots in advance and particularly sharp increases in states hosting competitive Senate races, according to an Associated Press analysis of voting data five days before Election Day.
The surge is especially pronounced in Texas, where voters are deciding closely watched Senate, House and governor’s races. More than 6.3 million Texans had voted early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four years ago, a 50% increase.
Advance voting has also increased more than 30% from the same point four years ago in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas, states with competitive Senate races. In South Carolina, where voters are choosing a successor to the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, early voting is up 83%.
The data, compiled by the AP, offers a glimpse of early voter participation five days before an election that will determine control of Congress and other key contests.
Across the country, more than 43 million Americans had voted early in person or returned mail ballots, nearly 10 million more than in 2022. The figures cover 47 states and Washington, D.C., compared with 48 states and the nation's capital four years ago.
In states that provide information on voters’ party affiliation, about 6.8 million Democrats and 5.2 million Republicans have cast ballots early. Those figures do not account for all early voters nationwide or indicate which candidates received their votes.
The increase comes as voters prepare to decide control of Congress two years into President Donald Trump’s second term, with Republicans holding the House and the Senate.
Voters have turned out in droves during Texas’ two-week early in-person voting period, which ends Friday.
In Harris County, which includes Houston, 862,700 people had voted as of Wednesday, compared with 564,500 at the same point in 2022.
The surge comes in a county that has reliably voted Democratic in recent elections, though by varying margins. In 2024, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris defeated Trump by nearly 6 percentage points in the presidential contest, while Democratic Senate candidate Colin Allred carried the county by roughly 11 percentage points over Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
This year, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton faces Democrat James Talarico in a closely watched Senate race, while Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is seeking reelection against Democrat Gina Hinojosa.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have poured into the Senate race as Republicans fight to defend a state where Democrats have not won a statewide election in more than three decades. Trump visited Texas earlier this week, his third trip to the state in a month.
Republicans are defending a 53-47 Senate majority in a midterm election in which the battleground map has expanded significantly, with Democrats hoping to pull off upsets in states that have long favored Republicans.
In South Carolina, where Trump won by nearly 18 percentage points in 2024, early voting has surged 83% compared with the same point in 2022. The state has open races for governor and U.S. Senate this year.
In Kansas, where Republican Sen. Roger Marshall faces Democratic Methodist megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton, early voting has increased 34%, with roughly 83,000 more ballots cast than at the same point four years ago.
Michigan and Maine, both of which have closely watched Senate races, are also seeing increases.
In Maine, where Republican Sen. Susan Collins faces Democratic former state Senate President Troy Jackson, early voting is up 44%. Michigan has recorded roughly 409,000 more early votes than at the same point in 2022, a 32% increase.
Voters in Michigan approved early in-person voting in November 2022, making this the first midterm election in which it is available statewide.
Follow the AP's coverage of the 2026 midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/elections.
Voters line up for the first hour of early voting at Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Supporters for Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed hold vote signs during a campaign event at Cass Technical High School on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Voters line up for the first hour of early voting at Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky began the long journey out of the war-ravaged region in bus convoys Friday, on the fourth day of the most significant truce since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine 4½ years ago.
The estimated 2,000 remaining residents in the city of Oleshky were offered the choice of traveling to Ukrainian- or Russian-held territory, or remaining in the city with replenished food and medical supplies.
Officials in Kyiv said the evacuated residents bound for Ukraine were traveling to the city of Anapa in southern Russia from where they would fly to Belarus before crossing the border into northern Ukraine.
The shortest route from Oleshky to Anapa is about 450 kilometers (280 miles) through Russian-held Crimea.
Russia’s ombudswoman and lead representative on the mission, Yana Lantratova said buses also transported Oleshky residents who want to live in Russia.
Russia and Ukraine have not specified how many people chose to leave the city, but U.S. first lady Melania Trump, whom the White House said helped broker the localized truce, posted on social media Friday that the convoy could safely evacuate more than 750 people.
After the convoys left Oleshky, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s ombudsman and chief negotiator, described the aid mission as “unique” and said he hoped the same model could be used to help other communities stranded by the war in Ukraine.
After a concerted effort to remove all Russian mines from roads in and out of Oleshky, an aid convoy of 25 buses, some ambulances, trucks and other vehicles arrived in the stranded city earlier Friday to deliver food and medicine.
Officials from both countries worked together in the rare joint humanitarian effort, offering a brief respite in the grim war of attrition. The localized ceasefire in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region is expected to continue through Sunday evening.
The United States played a central role in the mission. Aside from the first lady's apparent role, Pope Leo XIV — the first American pontiff — also pressed Russian and Ukrainian leaders to allow aid deliveries and civilian evacuations.
“Everyone who wishes to leave Oleshky will have the opportunity to do so safely,” Russia and Ukraine said in separate but identical statements earlier Friday. “Those who choose to stay may remain and will receive all the humanitarian support they need.”
Fighting continued elsewhere, however. Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses downed more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones overnight, while Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched ballistic and other missiles, along with scores of drones.
A Russian drone attack on a town in northeast Ukraine has left one woman dead and eight people injured, Ukraine’s emergency services said Friday. The strike occurred in the Sumy region in the town of Shostka, near Ukraine’s border with Russia. The agency said rescue efforts were hampered by repeated air raid alerts.
In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of stepping up attacks designed to make ordinary Ukrainians suffer during another winter. He did not mention the aid mission.
“The Russians have not taken a single step toward de-escalation in the energy sector and continue terrorist strikes on our cities,” he said. “We will respond accordingly and justly.”
Zelenskyy's office also announced sanctions on individuals and entities involved in developing Russia’s Rassvet satellite communications system, which Kyiv says Moscow is scaling up for military purposes.
Associated Press writers Susie Blann and Derek Gatopoulos in Kyiv, Ukraine; Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia; and Darlene Superville and Konstantin Toropin in Washington D.C. contributed.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine, Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, center right, and Russian Ombudsman Yana Lantratova speak with journalists before departing for Oleshky to evacuate local residents to a safe area during a local ceasefire linked to a humanitarian mission in Ukraine's Kherson region, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine via AP) CORRECTION: change position of Dmytro Lubinets from center left to center right
Women walk through a local market beneath anti-drone nets stretched over a street during a local ceasefire linked to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, in Ukraine's Kherson region, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A Ukrainian soldier of Khartia brigade prepares a Ukrainian-made "Darts" drone, a multipurpose unmanned aerial vehicle used as a kamikaze drone to attack Russian forces, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
In this photo provided by the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine, Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, center left, and Russian Ombudsman Yana Lantratova speak with journalists before departing for Oleshky to evacuate local residents to a safe area during a local ceasefire linked to a humanitarian mission in Ukraine's Kherson region, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine via AP)
In this screenshot from a video provided by the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine, Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, left, speaks with residents of Oleshky during their evacuation to a safe area amid a local ceasefire connected to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, Kherson region, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, cars are on fire following a Russian air attack in Chernyhiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
A residential building is seen damaged in Russian attacks during a local ceasefire related to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A local man rides a bicycle beneath anti-drone nets stretched over a street during a local ceasefire related to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
