Election administrators say they are prepared and confident the vote will be accurate and secure. Nevertheless,\u00a0President Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0has continued with efforts to denigrate certain voting methods and reshape how elections are run, through\u00a0court challenges<\/a>, an expansive federal\u00a0hunt for noncitizen voters<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0pressure campaign<\/a>\u00a0to force election officials to share sensitive voter data.<\/p>\n Friday marked the start of early voting in Virginia. Voters in a handful of other states, including Idaho, Minnesota and South Dakota, can cast absentee ballots in person, typically at a local election office or voting center. More expansive early voting is scheduled to begin in those and other states in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n At a voting location in Fairfax, Virginia, 18-year-old college student Sanya Singhal was among the first to vote early in person Friday morning, arriving well before the site opened to get in line.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy not just have a little fun in life, you know, try to be the first early voter?\u201d she said. \u201cI really want to participate in my democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n At a voting location in suburban Richmond, a poll worker rang a bell as the building opened and about a dozen voters in line began to file in.<\/p>\n The Nov. 3 election includes votes for governor and state legislature in most states and will determine whether Republicans maintain control of the U.S. House and Senate. If Democrats retake Congress, it will alter the trajectory of the final two years of Trump\u2019s term, most likely leading to investigations and other oversight efforts.<\/p>\n A government building hosting early voting on the first day of in-person voting for this year\u2019s midterm elections, in Henrico County, Virginia, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Sarah Rankin)\n<\/p>\n A sign directs voters to an entrance for City Hall during early voting for the Rhode Island primary election, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)\n<\/p>\n Peggy Jacobs of Chesterfield, N.H., leaves the voting booth in Chesterfield during the New Hampshire State Primaries on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (Kristopher Radder\/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)\n<\/p>\n A government building hosting early voting in Henrico County, Virginia, on the first day of in-person voting for this year\u2019s midterm elections, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Sarah Rankin)\n<\/p>\n Show Caption<\/p>\n 1 of 4<\/p>\n A government building hosting early voting on the first day of in-person voting for this year\u2019s midterm elections, in Henrico County, Virginia, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Sarah Rankin)\n<\/p>\n Expand<\/a> The start of early voting comes at a time of deep angst among many Americans about issues including\u00a0rising gas and grocery prices<\/a>, the war in Iran, the\u00a0looming risks<\/a>\u00a0of artificial intelligence and Trump\u2019s aggressive\u00a0immigration enforcement campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n It also follows an\u00a0unprecedented spate<\/a>\u00a0of mid-decade redistricting for the U.S. House that began when Trump urged the Republican-controlled legislature in Texas to redraw its congressional map to help the party. California and other states followed.<\/p>\n The changes affect millions of people: Research shows\u00a01 in 10 Americans<\/a>\u00a0this fall is a resident of a different congressional district than in 2024.<\/p>\n Those partisan efforts are expected to continue before the 2028 elections after a\u00a0landmark ruling<\/a>\u00a0this year from the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the federal Voting Rights Act\u2019s\u00a0protections against racially discriminatory redistricting<\/a>.<\/p>\n As the start of early voting approached, Trump was focused on efforts to assert federal control over election administration, even as the Constitution bestows the power to run elections on the states and, in some cases, Congress. The nation\u2019s highest court\u00a0rejected Trump\u2019s bid<\/a>\u00a0to restrict mail ballots this week, but several of his administration\u2019s other efforts to influence the voting process and mine state voter lists for illegitimate voters continue.<\/p>\n Virginia\u2019s attorney general said Thursday that Trump\u2019s administration\u00a0may have violated<\/a>\u00a0several of the state\u2019s laws after a\u00a0whistleblower<\/a>\u00a0accused federal employees of misrepresenting themselves on voter lookup tools to hunt for\u00a0noncitizen voters<\/a>. In a letter, Attorney General Jay Jones demanded that the Department of Homeland Security confirm in writing whether it had directed anyone to access Virginia voters\u2019 information without first obtaining permission from those voters.<\/p>\n Trump for years has\u00a0raised the specter<\/a>\u00a0of widespread noncitizen voting in U.S. elections, and this year is no exception. But despite his administration\u2019s insistence that hundreds of thousands of people are illegally on voting rolls across the country, research continues to show\u00a0noncitizen voting is exceptionally rare<\/a>.<\/p>\n David Becker, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said he wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the Republican president continues \u201chis disinformation campaign and his attack on election officials.\u201d But he said he thinks despite that and other challenges, \u201cultimately the process will hold as it has in past years.\u201d<\/p>\n Advocates push for voters to cast their ballots early<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.sandiegouniontribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/AP26261446613781.jpg?w=620\")
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\nVoting underway after unusual redistricting and Trump\u2019s bid to control how elections are run<\/p>\n