Election Day is here after a surge of early voting that already tops 57 million ballots, with control of Congress hanging in the balance.
What is on the ballot
Voters across the United States are casting final ballots on Tuesday, Nov. 3, in the 2026 midterm elections. All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are up, along with governors in 36 states, according to ABC News and Al Jazeera. Republicans currently hold both chambers of Congress.
House Democrats need a net gain of three seats for a majority. Senate Democrats need a net gain of four seats, Al Jazeera reported. Midterms are the elections held halfway through a president’s term. They often reshape who runs Congress.
Early voting already set a high bar
More than 57.5 million mail and early in-person ballots had been cast nationwide as of early Tuesday, according to NBC News’ early-vote tracker, which draws on TargetSmart and state data. That total included about 25.1 million mail ballots and 32.4 million early in-person votes.
ABC News said Monday’s early-vote count was already set to outpace the more than 58 million early votes cast in the entire 2022 midterm cycle. Among early voters with available party registration data, NBC showed about 46% registered Democrats, 35% registered Republicans, and 19% other or unavailable.
- National early votes: about 57.5 million
- Mail: about 25.1 million
- Early in person: about 32.4 million
How each side is framing Election Day
Democrats cast the day as a chance to curb President Donald Trump’s agenda. On X Monday, the Democratic Party account wrote: “Tomorrow is Election Day. Together, we can flip the House, take back the Senate, and end Trump’s agenda.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries posted: “Change is coming to the United States Congress.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote that voters would “deliver the verdict on the most corrupt president in America history.”
Republicans urged supporters to turn out for the president’s allies. Trump posted a wave of state-by-state get-out-the-vote messages on X Monday, telling voters to support “Great Patriots” with his “Complete and Total Endorsement.” House Speaker Mike Johnson argued Republicans are “putting money back in working families’ pockets” while accusing Democrats of backing tax hikes and bigger government. The White House account posted a reminder that people involved in illegal voting or fraudulent registration “will be prosecuted.”
When polls open and close
Poll hours vary by state. Al Jazeera reported Vermont opens first at 5 a.m. local time, with New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut and Kentucky opening at 6 a.m. Some of the earliest closings come at 6 p.m. in Indiana and Kentucky. Alaska is among the last, around 1 a.m. Eastern Time Wednesday.
Results will roll in after polls close. Closely contested races may take hours or days to call, and it may not be clear right away which party will control Congress.
Sources: NBC News early-vote tracker; ABC News live updates; Al Jazeera poll hours; @TheDemocrats on X; @RepJeffries on X; @GavinNewsom on X; @realDonaldTrump on X; @SpeakerJohnson on X; @WhiteHouse on X
