US midterms 2026: how to vote and what's on your ballot Nov 3
How to vote in the US midterms on November 3, 2026: what is on the ballot, registration, voter ID, early and mail voting, provisional ballots and results.
Why it matters
Voting rules differ by state, and a missed mail ballot deadline or the wrong ID can keep a vote from counting. Knowing your state's rules before November 3 avoids that.
Every one of the 435 seats in the US House of Representatives is on the ballot on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, along with 35 Senate seats, 36 governorships and 145 statewide ballot measures. How you vote in these midterm elections depends almost entirely on your state, which sets its own rules on registration, ID, early voting and mail ballots.
Quick answer: Polls open on Election Day, November 3, 2026, but most states also let you vote early in person or by mail. Check that you are registered and find your polling place through vote.gov or your state election office. About 36 states ask for some form of ID at the polls. If your name is missing from the list, federal law lets you cast a provisional ballot.
Midterms fall halfway through a president’s four-year term, so the White House is not on the ballot. The Electoral College plays no part. Voters are choosing Congress, governors, state legislators and a long list of local offices and questions.
What is on the ballot on November 3?
The federal races are the same size in every midterm year, with one wrinkle in 2026. Ballotpedia, the nonpartisan election encyclopedia, counts 33 Senate seats up for their regular six-year terms plus two special elections. The specials fill the last two years of terms won by Marco Rubio in Florida and JD Vance in Ohio, who left the Senate to become secretary of state and vice president.
| Office | Seats on the ballot | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| US House | 435 of 435 | Every seat, two-year terms |
| US Senate | 35 of 100 | 33 regular, 2 special (Florida, Ohio) |
| Governor | 36 of 50 | 18 held by each party |
| Statewide ballot measures | 145 | 164 in 2026, 19 decided earlier |
Source: Ballotpedia, accessed October 28, 2026.
Below those headline races sits most of the actual ballot. State legislators, attorneys general, judges, county officials, school boards and local tax questions vary from street to street. Ballotpedia says 164 statewide measures were certified in 40 states for 2026, above the even-year average of 161 between 2010 and 2024. Seven concern voter identification, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Oklahoma, where voters already approved theirs in August. Missouri voters also decide Proposition A, a referendum on the state’s congressional map.
Your county or state election office publishes a sample ballot in the weeks before the election. Reading it at home is the fastest way to avoid surprises in the booth.
How do I check that I am registered to vote?
Start at vote.gov, the federal site run with the Election Assistance Commission. Pick your state and it shows the registration deadlines, links to online registration where the state offers it, and points you to the state page where you can confirm your status.
Many deadlines passed in October. That does not always shut you out. About two dozen states and Washington, DC, allow same-day or Election Day registration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), which tracks state election law. Wisconsin, for example, lets voters register at the polling place on November 3. North Carolina allows same-day registration only during early voting.
North Dakota is the outlier. It has no voter registration at all; voters show ID and proof of residence when they vote.
If you moved since the last election, check your registration even if you voted before. Your old address may still be on file, which can send you to the wrong polling place.
Where is my polling place?
Polling places are assigned by address and can change between elections, especially after redistricting or local consolidation. The USAGov voting guide covers where and when to vote, and vote.gov links to each state’s polling place lookup.
Eight states run elections mainly by mail, sending a ballot to every registered voter: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington. Washington, DC, does the same. Those places still offer in-person voting centers for anyone who wants or needs them.
What ID do I need to vote?
It depends on the state, and the range is wide. NCSL counts 36 states with laws that request or require voters to show some form of identification at the polls. In the other 14 and DC, officials confirm identity in other ways, usually a signature match or the voter stating their name and address.
NCSL sorts the ID states into two groups:
| Type | What it means at the polls |
|---|---|
| Strict ID | No acceptable ID means a provisional ballot; the voter must return with ID within a few days for it to count |
| Non-strict ID | Voters without ID have another option, such as signing an affidavit, and the ballot is counted normally |
Source: NCSL voter ID guidance.
Some states accept only photo ID, such as a driver’s license, state ID card, passport or military ID; others accept a utility bill or bank statement with your name and address. First-time voters who registered by mail may face an extra federal ID check under the Help America Vote Act. Your state election office lists exactly which documents count.
Can I vote early or by mail?
Probably. Forty-seven states and DC offered early in-person voting to all eligible voters as of April 2026, according to a Congressional Research Service report citing NCSL. Early windows range from 3 days to 46, and many sites are open only on certain days. Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire do not offer no-excuse early voting, Ballotpedia says, though the latter two allow it for voters with an approved reason.
Every state lets at least some voters receive a ballot by mail. Thirty-six states and DC offer mail voting to anyone who asks, the CRS report says; the rest require an excuse such as illness, disability or being away from home.
The deadline that trips people up is the return deadline. In most states a mail ballot must arrive by the time polls close on Election Day. Fourteen states count ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive later: Alaska, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. The grace period runs from one day in Texas to 21 days in Washington. California allows seven, Illinois 14.
Those grace periods survived a challenge this year. On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Watson v. Republican National Committee that federal Election Day laws do not stop states from counting on-time ballots that arrive late. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority: “Nothing in the federal election-day statutes requires ballots to be received by Election Day.” Justice Samuel Alito wrote the dissent. Ohio had already changed its law ahead of the ruling, the Associated Press reported, and 15 other states keep grace periods only for military and overseas voters.
If you still hold an unmailed ballot in the final days, most states let you drop it at an official drop box or election office instead. Many also offer online tracking so you can confirm it was received.
What if I am an American living abroad?
US citizens overseas and military voters use the Federal Voting Assistance Program at FVAP.gov. The Federal Post Card Application registers you and requests a ballot in one step. Election offices had to send ballots to overseas voters who applied in time by 45 days before the election.
If your ballot has not arrived, the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot is a backup you can print and return. If both your state ballot and the write-in ballot reach the office, only one is counted. Some states give overseas ballots extra days to arrive; your state’s page on FVAP.gov lists its deadline.
What is a provisional ballot?
A provisional ballot is a safety net. Under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, if your name is not on the voter list at your polling place, or an official questions your eligibility, you have the right to cast one. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the federal agency that supports state election offices, says states may not take that right away, though they decide whether each provisional ballot counts.
You usually sign a statement that you are registered and eligible. Officials then check your record after Election Day. In strict ID states, you may need to bring ID to the election office within a few days. Ask the poll worker how to find out whether your ballot was counted; states must provide a way to check.
- Ask the poll worker to look you up again, including at your previous address.
- Check that you are at the right polling place; a provisional ballot cast at the wrong one may not count in some states.
- Request a provisional ballot if the problem cannot be fixed on the spot.
- Follow up with any ID or documents the state asks for, by its deadline.
When will we know the results?
The figures reported on election night are, in the EAC’s words, “unofficial and never final.” Counties keep adding mail, provisional and military and overseas ballots for days, and in grace-period states they cannot finish until late-arriving mail is in. Close races, especially in states that count many mail ballots, can stay uncalled for days.
After counting comes the canvass, where officials reconcile the number of voters with the number of ballots, then audits in most states, then certification. Each state sets its own deadlines, and the EAC notes that certification can come several weeks after Election Day. Recounts, if a close margin or a request triggers one, come after that.
A useful habit when reading results this year: look at the timestamp and the share of the expected vote counted, not just the margin. A lead built on in-person Election Day votes can shrink, or grow, once mail ballots are added, and that shift is the count working as designed, not a sign of a problem.
Watch for: Your state’s mail ballot receipt deadline, the hours of your polling place on November 3, and the date your state certifies results. All three are on your state election office’s website.
