Early and absentee voting continues to expand nationwide. Once concentrated in a handful of western states, it accelerated during COVID and is now standard practically everywhere; meaning millions of voters decide and cast ballots weeks, even months, before Election Day. If your media plan is still concentrated in the final two-to-four-week sprint, you’re missing them entirely.

That’s not just wasted spend and wasted frequency, it’s a reputational risk. Nothing frustrates a candidate faster than their own spouse or friends calling to say, “Love the ad, but I already voted.” That call lands directly on the agency principal’s desk.

The fix: build early-voter profiles into your targeting now, reach them with persuasive messaging before they decide, and use voter-level data to verify reach, frequency, and engagement. Then exclude anyone who’s already voted.

IQM makes this simple. Our planning and campaign-builder tools identify likely early voters (last cycle’s exclusion list is this cycle’s target list), and our L2-powered exclusion audiences, updated continuously, keep your budget away from ballots already cast.

Don’t wait until October. Fill out the form below to see how IQM keeps your 2026 Midterms media plan ahead of the vote.