More than 46 million people in the United States had voted before Election Day as of Friday, passing the 45.9 million early ballots recorded in the 2022 midterms, according to the University of Florida Election Lab as reported by States Newsroom outlets^1,2,7.

The reports, by Ariana Figueroa and carried across States Newsroom sites, said it remained unclear whether 2026 overall turnout would exceed 2018, when 53 percent of eligible voters participated, the highest midterm rate since 1914^1,2,3.

Michael McDonald, a University of Florida political scientist who leads the Election Lab, told the outlets this week that early-vote data so far pointed toward participation similar to 2018^1,4,5.

Among early voters in states that report party registration, 43.9 percent were registered Democrats, 31.3 percent Republicans and 24.8 percent had no party affiliation, the lab figures cited Friday showed^1,6,8.

The same accounts said Republicans were seeking to keep majorities in both chambers of Congress and that several election forecasters favored Democrats to take the House, a pattern common in a president's midterm^1,9,10.

Cook Political Report with Amy Walter on Oct. 30 moved 12 House races toward Democrats and listed 18 House contests as toss-ups, the outlets reported^1,11,12.

In the Senate, Cook listed seven toss-up races: Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas^1,2,7.

The early-vote total is a running count of ballots already cast, not a forecast of who will win, and the lab's party shares cover only states that report registration, not how those ballots will be counted^1,6.