NBC News is tracking election status for the 2026 midterm early vote, with national and statewide totals updated as ballots are counted. The live tracker covers states with competitive Senate battlegrounds and brings the figures into one running view for readers following early voting.
The tracker compiles its national total from daily state totals sourced from TargetSmart and state officials. Party registration in the guide is based on state-provided partisanship when available and TargetSmart's model of party affiliation, so the same page can compare states even when their reporting systems differ.
NBC News and TargetSmart
That setup matters because early vote reporting is not uniform. Some states provide partisanship directly, while others require a modeled party estimate, and the tracker uses both approaches in the same display.
The total number of ballots requested or sent also folds in the total number of registered voters in universal vote by mail states. In those states, ballots are automatically sent to all registered voters, which changes how the tracker counts the starting pool before votes are returned.
2026 Midterm Election Results
For readers watching election status, the main value is comparison across states rather than a single national number. The tracker brings together daily state totals, then layers on the registration method so users can compare early vote movement across different systems without treating every state the same way.
That also means the national figure is an aggregate, not one unified feed. It depends on state officials and TargetSmart data arriving in step, so the page can update as each state posts new totals.
Voters in universal states
Voters in universal vote by mail states are included through the registered-voter count that accompanies ballots sent automatically. Readers looking for the current leaders will need the live table itself, because the tracker is built to update daily rather than lock in a fixed snapshot.
For now, the practical takeaway is simple: the tracker is designed to show where early voting stands, how the totals are assembled, and how the methodology changes from state to state. That makes it a working results page, not a one-time report.
