Early Voting is Surging Ahead of the Midterms
Americans are showing up early, and in record numbers
More than four million Americans have already cast a ballot, with 2 weeks still to go before Election Day. In state after state, the early vote is not just ahead of the last midterm. It is breaking records.
Georgia opened early voting on Tuesday, October 13, and more than 188,000 people showed up on day one, a new midterm record for the state. That is a 40 percent jump over the first day in 2022 and more than double the opening-day turnout of 2018. In Ohio, lines formed outside polling places in Columbus as in-person early voting more than doubled the previous midterm; the state's secretary of state put the increase even higher, saying early voting has nearly quadrupled from four years ago. Virginia is seeing almost twice the turnout of the last midterm.
Early ballots in North Carolina and Maine are up 38 percent from the last midterm cycle, and Iowa is up 61 percent. And the map keeps widening: most of the country will have some form of early voting underway by the end of this week.
Voters in Georgia named the economy, inflation, abortion access, immigration and the direction of the country. In Columbus, a trucker pointed to $8 diesel, another voter to the cost of living, and a father to not wanting his kids sent off to fight wars. A mother of two daughters in Georgia talked about women's health. Another voter there put it plainly: prices and inflation are out of control and something needs to change.
These are people feeling what is happening around them, at the gas pump, at the grocery store, in their own families, and deciding to do something about it. Voting is the most direct way we have to push for a change.
Early voting makes that easier. You can go on whatever day fits your schedule instead of trying to squeeze it in on election day. The lines are usually shorter too.
Your turn
Four million people have already made their voices heard. Now it's your turn!
Check your registration. Then, find your polling place, pick your day, and go.
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