Early In-Person Voting Surges in North Carolina and Ohio
Early in-person voting has significantly surpassed 2022 levels in Mecklenburg County and Franklin County as mail-in ballot requests decline due to security concerns.
Early voting for the 2026 midterm elections shows a significant shift toward in-person casting in key regions. In Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, over 106,109 voters cast ballots by October 21, with the first five days alone seeing 70,000 voters compared to 42,000 in 2022. Similarly, Franklin County, Ohio, recorded 54,000 early in-person voters, already exceeding the total in-person turnout for the entire 2022 cycle.
Conversely, mail-in ballot requests have declined. In Mecklenburg County, requests dropped from 33,000 in 2022 to 18,200, while Franklin County saw a decrease from over 100,000 to approximately 80,000. Elections Director Michael Dickerson attributed the trend to voter anxiety over mail-in security, exacerbated by federal attempts to restrict mail-in voting and new Republican-led state rules in North Carolina. These rules require both inner and outer envelopes to be sealed, resulting in 259 rejected ballots in Mecklenburg County as of October 22.
Governor Josh Stein has urged North Carolinians to vote in person to ensure their ballots are counted. In Ohio, the political climate remains contentious as Republican Vivek Ramaswamy faces criticism for attack ads targeting Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, and former Senator Sherrod Brown challenges incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted. Community groups in Columbus are currently mobilizing young and Black voters ahead of the November 3 Election Day.
