2026 Midterm Election Live Updates: Early Vote Nears 60 Million as First Polls Close at 6 p.m. ET

Live Updates (ET, Newest First)

4:10 p.m. ET: Early vote nears 60 million, and the DOJ targets Democrats’ top election lawyer

The AP counts 59.7 million ballots cast before Election Day, early in person and by mail, up from a little over 58 million in 2022 (AP). Still no votes counted and no races called. The first AP Voter Poll findings are due at 5 p.m. ET, and the first polls close at 6 p.m. ET in most of Indiana and Kentucky (AP).

Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias says he has received a Justice Department target letter in the criminal probe of the Alaska Senate race. “No one should be surprised that President Trump’s Department of Justice is targeting me and my law firm on Election Day,” he told NBC News, calling it a “sham investigation.” Separately, federal prosecutors charged postal workers in Sacramento and Kansas with holding back political mail; the Kansas worker allegedly had nearly 400 Republican mailers in her garage (NBC News). A White House official says Trump “left everything on the field” and will watch returns tonight at an East Room party with Cabinet members and his pollsters (NBC News).

On the lighter side, Rob Gronkowski turned up at a polling place in Bedford, N.H., signing jerseys, posing for photos and calling himself “the cherry on top of a cookie cake” while telling people to vote no matter the party. NASA astronaut Anil Menon says all three U.S. crew members on the International Space Station voted from orbit with secure electronic ballots (NBC News).

This is opinion. A target letter to the other party’s lead election lawyer, delivered while the polls are still open, looks less like law enforcement and more like a warning shot about the recounts to come. File it next to the Alaska subpoenas under fishy timing. Gronk, meanwhile, remains undefeated at being Gronk.

3:10 p.m. ET: Westchester glitch explained, and the DOJ widens its Alaska probe

New York’s State Board of Elections says the Westchester scanner trouble came from an update to the county’s election programming that was made after the machines were prepared and tested. Crews are swapping in replacement media that was already tested during early voting. The first goal is to get at least one scanner working at every polling place, and emergency ballots stay under bipartisan watch until they’re counted (NBC News). It matters beyond one county: Westchester includes the 17th District, where Republican Rep. Mike Lawler faces Democrat Cait Conley in one of the House races that could decide the majority (NBC News).

In Alaska, ABC News reports that the Justice Department is issuing more than 100 subpoenas and at least 20 target letters in its criminal investigation of the Senate race. The probe centers on an alleged effort by Democrats, including some in Mary Peltola’s campaign, to recruit a retired teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan onto the ballot alongside Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan (ABC News).

This is opinion. A programming change pushed after testing is exactly the kind of avoidable mistake that feeds a week of conspiracy posts, so Westchester’s count had better be spotless. And a federal subpoena blitz landing on Election Day itself? The timing is fishy, whatever the merits of the case.

2:40 p.m. ET: Where things stand

With a little over four hours until the first polls close, no results are in from the contests that decide Congress, and the AP hasn’t called any of them (AP; AP). The big stories so far are logistics. In Westchester County, N.Y., scanners rejected ballots because of a printing problem. Voters are filling out their ballots and dropping them into secure orange emergency bags to be counted later, and officials say every eligible vote will count. Polls there stay open until 9 p.m. (CBS New York).

2:09 p.m. ET: North Carolina weighs longer hours

North Carolina’s State Board of Elections met at 2 p.m. to consider extending voting in Hertford, Gates, Wilson and Lenoir counties after what Executive Director Sam Hayes called “minor delays,” including a printer jam and a poll book issue that have since been fixed. Statewide, polls close at 7:30 p.m., and any extension covers only the affected sites (ABC News; News & Observer).

1:37 p.m. ET: Man charged over powder letters

Federal prosecutors charged an Oklahoma City man with mailing hundreds of letters containing white powder to election officials, lawmakers and others before the 2024 and 2026 elections. The powder tested so far turned out to be yeast or flour (AP; USA Today).

BREAKING: An Oklahoma man is charged with mailing hundreds of letters containing nonhazardous powder to officials ahead of the election. https://t.co/hJNineqTSA

— The Associated Press (@AP) November 3, 2026

11:40 a.m. ET: Don’t expect a quick answer

The AP warned that control of Congress may not be known tonight. Close House races, mail ballots and ranked-choice tabulations in some states can all add days (AP). NPR says the House picture may come into focus before the Senate (NPR).

Morning: Floods, glitches and an emergency order

In Broward County, Fla., a barcode feature meant to hand voters the right ballot in precincts split by redistricting flagged good ballots when polls opened at 7 a.m., causing delays of about 20 minutes. It was fixed by about 7:20, and officials said “nobody voted on the wrong ballot.” Flooding forced two polling places to move (Miami Herald). Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson declared a state of emergency so voters cut off by floodwaters can request and return ballots electronically (ABC News).

6 a.m. ET: Polls open

Polls opened in New York and across the East, with a heavy presence of observers at polling places (AP). The election is the first nationwide verdict on President Trump’s second term, coming the morning after U.S. strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island (NYT). The Guardian reports the strikes hit the night before polls opened (Guardian).