WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the November midterm elections approach, new research shows options to vote early in-person and by mail have grown in popularities over the years.
“When we look at the last 25 years, we’ve seen an expansion of the access to expand the options to vote by mail or voting in person,” said Dr. Christopher Mann, the research director for the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR). CEIR is a nonprofit that works with election officials and build confidence in elections. Mann said the use of voting before election day, whether by mail or in person has climbed steadily from year to year.
According to CEIR, voting before election day made up 40 percent of ballots cast in the 2016 election. It slightly went up in the 2018 elections, but it really climbed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 before returning to the long-term trend with 51 percent in the 2022 elections and 61 percent of ballots cast before election day in 2024.
CEIR said in general elections from 2016 to 2022, more votes nationally were cast by mail than were cast in-person early voting.
“The most interesting about 2024 is the election in which we’ve seen more people voting early in person than voting by mail,” said Mann. “And I would guess that trend will continue in 2026 based on what we’ve seen in the primaries taken place so far.”
Mann said there’s two main reasons why more people are opting to vote prior to election day:
“People like it,” said Mann. “People discover it, they like it. It’s convenient, it’s easier than going on Tuesday Election Day. They can choose when and with early voting they can choose where to vote. The second answer is there’s a lot more promotion about it. Election officials talk about it; campaigns talk about it because they want to try to give people every opportunity to vote.
Mann said the dates for early voting varies across states. They encourage voters to reach out to their local election officials to find out the exact dates for early voting.
