More than 99 million Americans have voted early in the presidential election – either by post or in person, according to the latest figures from the US Elections Project.
This far surpasses the total number of early ballots cast in the 2016 election, in which 138 million Americans voted overall.
Election observers believe the surge in early votes could indicate a high – possibly record – turnout for this year’s election.
The increase has been driven at least in part by concerns over visiting polling stations in person during the coronavirus pandemic.
Turnout has hovered around the 60% mark in recent presidential elections. In 2016, it was 58.1% of the country’s voting-eligible population.
This year, the largest number of early votes were cast in the states of California (12 million), Texas (9.7 million) and Florida (8.9 million). Polls have shown that Democrats favour postal ballots more than Republicans, which could bode well for Biden.
Trump has been touting a “red wave” of in-person voters on election day. He may need them.
source: CNN
