North Texas Midterms See Record Early Voting Despite Registration Glitches

Key points

• Dallas County recorded 76,079 first-day early voters, up from 32,605 in 2022.
• Tarrant County saw 50,409 ballots, though this is lower than the 2024 presidential cycle.
• Collin County faced printer issues at about 10 locations, delaying some voters.
• Statewide voter registrations reached a record 19 million, up 7.7% from 2022.
• Texas resolved a backlog of 500,000 unprocessed voter applications before early voting began.

Background

Background indicates that suburban defections from the Republican party in the Texas Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico may be driving high engagement. Additionally, earlier reports noted that North Carolina saw a 37% surge in early voting, suggesting a broader national trend of increased midterm participation.

How outlets are covering it

NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth emphasizes the record-breaking turnout in Dallas, Denton, and Collin counties, highlighting the logistical challenges in Collin County. The Texas Tribune focuses on the statewide registration surge to 19 million, noting that Tarrant County was the only major county to see a drop in registered voters. While NBC 5 reports on immediate voting numbers, The Texas Tribune contextualizes these figures within the broader struggle to process backlogged voter records and address noncitizen purge controversies.

Why it matters

High early voting numbers signal intense competition in the 2026 midterms, particularly in swing counties like Tarrant. The resolution of massive voter registration backlogs is critical to ensuring that the record number of registered voters can actually cast ballots, impacting the outcome of key state and federal races.

What to watch

Early voting continues through October 30, with Election Day on November 3. Officials will continue processing the remaining backlogged voter registration records, and voters with unresolved status may cast provisional ballots.