Early voting begins in US midterm elections that could flip control of
Congress
[September 18, 2026]
By ALI SWENSON, SARAH RANKIN and SARAH RAZA
HENRICO, Va. (AP) — In-person voting for this year’s midterm elections
begins Friday, 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.
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 noncitizen voters and a pressure campaign to force
election officials to share sensitive voter data.
Friday marks the start of early voting in Virginia. 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 center. More expansive early voting is scheduled to begin in
those and other states in the coming weeks.
The Nov. 3 election includes votes for governor and state legislature in
most states and will determine whether the U.S. House and Senate
maintain their Republican majorities. If Democrats retake Congress, it
will alter the trajectory of the final two years of Trump’s term, likely
leading to investigations and other oversight efforts.
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
Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign.
It also follows an unprecedented spate of mid-decade redistricting for
the U.S. House that began when Trump urged the Republican-controlled
legislature in Texas to redraw its congressional map to help the party.
California and other states followed.
The changes affect millions of people: Research shows 1 in 10 Americans
this fall are residents of a different congressional district than in
2024.
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.
As the start of early voting approached, Trump was focused on efforts to
assert federal control over election administration, even as the
Constitution bestows the power to run elections on the states and, in
some cases, Congress. The Supreme Court rejected Trump's bid to restrict
mail ballots this week, but several of his administration's other
efforts to influence the voting process and mine state voter lists for
illegitimate voters are ongoing.
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A sign directs voters to an entrance for City Hall during early
voting for the Rhode Island primary election, Wednesday, Sept. 2,
2026, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Trump for years has raised the specter of widespread noncitizen
voting in U.S. elections, and this year is no exception. But despite
his administration's insistence that hundreds of thousands of people
are illegally on voting rolls across the country, research continues
to show noncitizen voting is exceptionally rare.
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 rights advocates have encouraged voters this year to cast
mail ballots early, in part because of concerns about recent changes
in U.S. Postal Service operations that could delay the application
of postmarks to ballots.
“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.
In a press briefing Thursday, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve
Simon urged people not to be swayed by stories they might have seen
or read that cast doubt on election operations. They would be able
to vote “just like they always have,” he said.
“I just want to reaffirm that Minnesota’s elections are
fundamentally free, fair, accurate, honest and secure,” he said.
___
Swenson reported from New York and Raza reported from Sioux Falls,
South Dakota. Associated Press writer Mike Catalini contributed from
Philadelphia.
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