While President Donald Trump wants to put an end to mail-in voting, more Democrats plan to vote in person this fall than in past elections, according to an NBC News poll released Sunday.
The survey shows 23 percent of registered Democrat voters plan to cast their ballots by mail in the 2026 midterm elections, which is down from 34 percent who said so in mid-September 2024.
According to the network’s reporting:
Instead, 36% of Democrats now say they plan to vote in person at an early voting site — up 6 points from a similar point two years ago. Another 36% say they plan to vote in person at the polls on Election Day, roughly the same as in 2024 (35%), while 5% say they are not sure how they would vote or are unlikely to vote at all.
The NBC News poll was conducted Sept. 11-15. On the evening of Sept. 14, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an executive order from Trump that sought to impose new criteria for states to send out mail ballots for the midterms. Democrats in particular have relied heavily on mail voting since the 2020 election, which took place during the Covid pandemic.
However, the poll shows independent voters are also starting to disfavor mail-in ballots.
Some 25 percent of independent voters said they would vote by mail this year, down three points from 28 percent in 2024. At the same time, 28 percent said they would vote in person, up from 22 percent, though 37 percent said they would vote at their polling place on election day, down from 41 percent, with 15 percent unsure or unlikely to cast ballots.
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Polling of Republicans told a different story. GOP voters have “remained consistent,” the NBC report said. “The poll found that 16% said they would vote by mail, 26% said early in person, and 53% said Election Day — all virtually unchanged from 2024,” NBC reported.
A broader look at voting trends expected in 2026 was also revealing.
Said Democrat pollster Jeff Horwitt, whose firm, Hart Research Associates, conducted the poll alongside Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies:
Among early voters, Democrats have a 23-point advantage on the congressional ballot, but among Election Day voters, Republicans have a 14-point advantage So, if a blue wave comes in, it will hit land at different times, and even on different days or weeks.
The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters from September 11 through 15 with a mix of telephone interviews and an online survey via text message, the network said, with a margin of error plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Breitbart News contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
