With Election Day just four days away, Americans are casting ballots at a pace that is outstripping both the 2018 and 2022 midterms at the same point in the calendar, according to multiple state and national tallies reviewed this week.

More than 21 million ballots had already been cast nationally as of this week, according to voting-data trackers cited by public radio reporting, though the figures are snapshots that will keep climbing through Tuesday. Early-voting enthusiasm is running well ahead of both prior midterm cycles, though officials caution that heavier early turnout doesn't by itself predict which party benefits once final numbers are in.

State-by-state records falling

Georgia shattered its own first-day early-voting record for a midterm election, drawing more than 188,600 ballots on day one — about 53,000 more than the same day in the 2022 midterms. Ohio has recorded nearly 195,000 early in-person ballots so far this cycle, roughly four times the pace the state saw at the same point in 2022.

Texas delivered a mixed but still striking picture. Harris County set a midterm first-day record with more than 127,000 voters, and Dallas County set an all-time first-day record of its own with over 88,000, according to North Texas election officials. Statewide, though, first-day turnout came in just under the first-day mark set during the 2024 presidential election, a reminder that midterm enthusiasm — even at a record pace — still trails a presidential year.

HEAVIER EARLY TURNOUT DOESN'T BY ITSELF PREDICT WHICH PARTY BENEFITS.

The crush of early ballots arrives as control of the House and a clutch of competitive Senate seats remain genuinely contested heading into the final weekend, with both parties pouring late money and candidate travel into a short list of battleground states. Election officials in several states have added extra early-voting hours and additional drop-box staffing to handle the volume, and some county clerks have warned voters to expect longer lines at in-person early sites through the weekend.

Turnout experts caution against reading too much into raw early-vote totals alone, since a strong early-voting showing can reflect enthusiasm from either party's base rather than a shift in the overall electorate. Both Democratic and Republican operatives have pointed to the early numbers as evidence of favorable momentum in their own internal models, a disagreement that will only be resolved once polls close Tuesday night.

Early and in-person voting continues through Monday in most states, with Election Day itself falling on Tuesday, November 3.