In-person voting for this year’s midterm elections begins on Friday (September 18, 2026), ushering in the final six weeks for Americans to decide who they trust to lead Congress through a cost-of-living crisis , a prolonged war in Iran, and other pressing issues.
Because of concerns about recent changes in U.S, voting rights advocates have encouraged voters this year to cast mail ballots early, in part. Postal Service operations that could delay the application of postmarks to ballots.
David Becker, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said he wouldn’t be surprised if the president continues “his disinformation campaign and his attack on election officials”. But he said he thinks despite that and other challenges, “ultimately the process will hold as it has in past years”. “Voting early, whether in person or by mail, is good for all of our communities because it gives voters options, eases lines on Election Day and can even mean faster results,” said Hannah Fried, co-founder and CEO of the voting rights group All Voting Is Local.
Election administrators say they’re prepared and confident the vote will be accurate and secure. Nevertheless, President Donald Trump has continued with efforts to denigrate certain voting methods and reshape how U.S. elections are run, through court challenges, an expansive federal hunt for non-citizen voters and a pressure campaign to force election officials to share sensitive voter data. Voters in a handful of other states, including Idaho, Minnesota and South Dakota, are able to cast absentee ballots in person, typically at a local election office or voting centre. More expansive early voting is scheduled to begin in those and other states in the coming weeks. House and Senate maintain their Republican majorities. The start of early voting comes at a time of deep angst among many Americans about issues including rising gas and grocery prices , the war in Iran, the looming risks of artificial intelligence technology, and Mr. Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign. It also follows an unprecedented spate of mid-decade redistricting for the U.S. House that began when Mr. Trump urged the Republican-controlled legislature in Texas to redraw its congressional map to help the party. California and other states followed.
Friday (September 18, 2026) marks the start of early voting in Virginia. The November 3 election includes votes for governor and state legislature in most states and will determine whether the U.S.
Those partisan efforts are expected to continue ahead of the 2028 elections after a landmark ruling earlier this year from the Supreme Court weakened the federal Voting Rights Act’s protections against racially discriminatory redistricting.
