How we collect and compare early vote numbers

What a number on this site means

Every figure carries its source and an as-of date. The as-of date is the day the source says the count runs through. We also show when we fetched it. Early ballots are ballots a voter has returned or cast before Election Day. They are unofficial and can be revised.

Comparing years by day, not by date

Each early voting day is counted as days before Election Day. October 19, 2026 is 15 days before November 3, and October 24, 2022 is 15 days before November 8, so they line up. We only draw two years on one line when both come from a source that reports cumulative totals for the same day. Otherwise we show the older year as a single reference and say so.

Official first, aggregators only to fill gaps

Official sources (state or county election offices) are the figures we show. When an aggregator is the only way to get a number, the page says so and the data row is marked as an aggregator. When two sources disagree we show the official figure and list the gap on the page. Nothing is estimated or filled in.

Known limits

• Texas 2022 is day matched for the whole state only, and in person only. Texas later extended required early voting hours, so 2022 is not an exact match.
• Texas county pages compare 2026 with the final 2022 early vote total, not the same day.
• California publishes vote by mail returns. The 2022 file is one file overwritten up to the day before Election Day, so it is not a same-day comparison with 2026.
• Arizona has one snapshot from an aggregator and no history. Counties update on different days.
• Florida publishes early in-person and mail returned counts by county each day. Our 2026 line grows by one point for each day we capture, and 2024 is a single final total (with mail counted through November 20, 2024), so it is not a same-day comparison. We do not show registered voters for Florida because that file does not carry them.
• North Carolina has a daily series from October 15, including every county, taken from the state's daily reports. County figures are captured by hand one day at a time and do not refresh on their own, and some counties repeat the previous day's number because the state's county data lags. The most recent statewide days come from a statewide file with no timestamp, so those are dated by when we fetched it. The 2022 line is the state's own same-point comparison, which does not give the 2022 date, so we place it the same number of days before Election Day. 2024 is a final total, not a same-day figure.
• DC publishes certified turnout after each election and no daily early vote count that we could find.
• 2024 is missing everywhere for now. We could not read a daily 2024 source for any of the places.

Gaps we have logged

Where the official figure differs from another published figure:

• harris, Oct 24, 2026: we show 542,946 (official state file); other source 546,651 (county election office report). County reports can run ahead of the state file.
• bexar, Oct 24, 2026: we show 221,547 (official state file); other source 263,353 (county election office report). Large gap. Bexar may report to the state late.
• fort bend, Oct 24, 2026: we show 134,529 (official state file); other source 153,067 (county election office report). County reports can run ahead of the state file.
• travis, Oct 24, 2026: we show 233,305 (official state file, summary figure); other source 223,521 (official state voter roster count). The official roster count is lower than the official summary. Cause not confirmed.

Where the numbers come from

Official figures come from state and local election offices, which publish unofficial early vote counts during early voting and certified turnout afterward. We read them directly, keep the original files, and record the time each was fetched. Where an official daily count is not published, we say so on the page and, in a few places, use a named public aggregator. Those are credited by name where their terms ask for it:

• TexPolls (aggregator)

  Statewide in-person early vote as a share of registered voters, matched by early voting day, for 2022.

  Credit: TexPolls (texpolls.com).

• Stealth Analytics (aggregator)

  By county: early ballots returned, issued and registered, built from each county's own daily early ballot file.

  Credit: Weech, D. (2026). Arizona 2026 general election early ballot returns. Stealth Analytics.

Refresh

Texas updates from the state on a schedule. California and Arizona are captured by hand for now and show their capture time. If a source changes a number, we keep the latest value and the one before it.