Story AnalysisPoliticsNews report

Many states deciding control of the Senate are seeing a big boost in early voting, AP analysis shows

Voter turnout is soaring compared with the last midterm election in many of the states that are expected to decide control of the U.S. Senate, according to an Associated Press analysis of early voting two weeks before Election Day.

The Washington TimesPublished Oct 21, 10:01 PMAnalyzed on October 22, 2026

This page is Both News's AI analysis of the article, not the article itself. Read the full story on the publisher's site.

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Our verdict

Political lean

Center

◀ Left 10Center10 Right ▶

0 = center. The further from 0, the stronger the lean (max 10).

Reporting balance

Somewhat one-sided

50 / 100

How complete and even-handed the reporting is — separate from which side it leans.

This is a neutral AP wire story that attributes its early-voting figures clearly and gives concrete state-by-state comparisons with 2022, which is its main strength. Its weakness is that it relies entirely on AP's own analysis, quotes no one, gives no absolute numbers or caveats, and leaves the partisan share claim unquantified. Readers should treat the 'soaring' framing as a description of turnout growth, not a forecast of Senate results, and look for election officials or analysts to add context.

Why this lean: The story describes turnout data and the parties' Senate goals without favouring either side in its adjectives or sourcing. Democrats are described as 'trying to flip' seats, and the Republican share decline is stated as a fact without a partisan reading. The only tilt is in the emphasis: a turnout surge and a shrinking Republican share are presented without any counter-interpretation, which could slightly help one party's narrative, but the text doesn't push that reading.
Framing: The story treats early-voting turnout compared with 2022 as a measure of Senate battleground momentum, told through AP's own data analysis.

Confidence: Medium — The supplied article body is only three short paragraphs and appears to end abruptly. Much of the page is navigation and unrelated promos. The assessment covers only the visible AP text and may miss later paragraphs that would add sources or context.

Key Findings

1The story sources everything to a single AP analysis and quotes no people. The phrase 'according to an Associated Press analysis' is clearly attributed, but a reader gets no independent check or outside reading of the data.
2Specific figures are given with a clear comparison point ('compared with 2022', 'the same point in 2022'), which makes the claims checkable. This is a real strength.
3The text gives percentage changes but no absolute ballot counts or total early-vote numbers, so a reader can't tell whether a 74% rise is a few thousand votes or a large share of the electorate.
4The claim that Republicans account for 'a smaller share of advance voters' in 'most of them' is unquantified and doesn't say which states are the exceptions, so the partisan implication is left vague.
5The article does not explain what might cause the increase or caution that early-vote growth doesn't predict Senate outcomes. The headline and lede ('soaring', 'big boost') may therefore leave readers with a stronger impression than the data supports.

Who gets a voice

Associated Press analysis (AP reporters Joey Cappelletti, Mike Catalini, Simran Parwani)
Source of all the data and conclusions; no individual speakers are quoted
Institutional wire data analysis, no stated viewpointMain voice

Loaded language

In the articleMore neutral

“soaring”→ rising sharply

The word signals a dramatic, positive surge; the figures given (for example 74% in Texas) support a rise but not the strength of the adjective for all the states listed.

“flip”→ win

'Flip' is a campaign-strategy term that frames the race as a contest of seat swings. It is common in political reporting and is a minor point.

Dimension Breakdown

Source Diversity4/10

No individuals are quoted or paraphrased. The only source is the AP's own analysis of early-voting data, so the story offers no independent or partisan perspectives.

Language Neutrality7/10

Attribution is neutral and verbs are plain ('according to an Associated Press analysis'). 'soaring' is emotive and 'flip' is campaign jargon, but neither is strongly loaded.

Data Balance5/10

Four states are given percentage changes against 2022, which is useful. But no absolute counts or base rates are given, the Republican share claim has no figures, and the text doesn't say which states showed declines.

Perspective Completeness4/10

No party, campaign, election official or outside analyst is heard, even though the story is about partisan Senate control. A reader can't tell how either side reads the data.

Headline Accuracy8/10

The headline ('big boost', 'AP analysis shows') matches the body's claims about rising early voting in the named states. It does not claim outcomes or partisan effects.

Context Sufficiency5/10

It gives no explanation of why early voting has risen (rule changes, mail policy, timing), no caveat that early vote shares don't predict results, and no note of how the comparison with 2022 is measured.

Missing Perspectives

Election officials in the named states, who could explain how early-vote and mail data are counted and whether rule or calendar changes affect comparisons with 2022.
Campaign or party strategists from both parties, who would say how they read early-vote shifts for their Senate races.
Independent election analysts, who could caution that early-vote changes don't reliably predict Election Day results.
States where early voting is flat or down, which would show whether the trend is uniform across the Senate battlegrounds.

Highlighted Passages

“In most of them, Republicans are accounting for a smaller share of advance voters than they did four years ago.”

This is the story's most politically consequential claim, yet it gives no numbers, does not name the exceptions, and has no outside reading. Readers can't judge how large the shift is.

“Voter turnout is soaring compared with the last midterm election”

'Soaring' is the most emotive word in the lede. The figures for the named states support a rise, but the adjective applies a strong sense of momentum that the text doesn't qualify.

Key Facts

According to an AP analysis of early voting two weeks before Election Day, voter turnout is up compared with the last midterm in many states expected to decide Senate control.
According to the AP analysis, early voting in Texas is up 74% compared with 2022.
According to the AP analysis, early voting in Kansas has more than doubled compared with 2022.
According to the AP analysis, Maine, North Carolina and Ohio have seen increases of more than 30% in early in-person and mail voting compared with the same point in 2022.
According to the AP analysis, Democrats are trying to flip Republican-held Senate seats in each of the named states.
According to the AP analysis, in most of those states Republicans make up a smaller share of advance voters than they did four years ago.