Voters in 39 states already have cast 7.3 million early or absentee ballots in this year's midterm elections, according to data from, Edison Research and Catalist, CNN reports.
Voting ahead of Election Day is about the same as in 2018, which was the highest turnout for midterms in recent history in states where Catalist has data for both years.
Voting habits have shifted in recent years, however, CNN noted, so it is impossible to say whether turnout this year will exceed 2018.
The state with the most early votes cast so far is Florida, which has had more than 1 million early ballots. Georgia has seen more than 800,000 early ballots cast so far.
Florida has governor's and Senate races on the ballot, while the battleground state of Georgia has the closely watched and tightly contested between Democratic Sen. Rafael Warnock and GOP challenger Herschel Walker.
Black voters in Georgia have cast more votes this year than in 2018, according to Catalist, which works with Democrats.
Pennsylvania and Michigan have seen their share of Black early voters drop, more substantially in Pennsylvania than in Michigan.
In Pennsylvania, 88% of early voters were white, compared to 7% who were Black. In 2018 that number was 81% white to 13% Black.
In Michigan, the numbers are 86% white to 10% Black this year compared to 83% white and 9% Black two years ago.
In Georgia, Black voters make up 35% of early voting so far this year, with white voters at 60%. In 2018 it was 32% Black voters to 64% white.
Early balloting has become a contentious issue among some Republicans who have accused Democrats of using it for what they termed election fraud. Democrats counter that the method allows more voters access to the voting process as many people work jobs that do not allow them access to the polls on Election Day.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.