With six days to go before Election Day, historic numbers of Americans have turned out to cast their ballots early.
At least 71.5 million early votes had been cast nationwide as of Wednesday morning. That’s more than half the total seen in the 2016 election that sent Donald Trump to the White House.
In some states, like Texas and North Carolina, the early turnout is much higher.
The numbers have “upended expectations about Election Day and which states could decide the presidential contest,” reports the Washington Post.
In fact, the rate of early voting puts this year’s election on pace for a historic rate of participation not seen in more than a century. It also could mean a delay in determining the presidential winner.
Michael McDonald, a University of Florida political scientist and an expert on voter turnout, told the New York Times the numbers are “stunning” and “good news,” especially for election workers.
“There were many concerns about election officials’ ability to conduct an election during a pandemic, McDonald said. “Not only are people voting, but they are voting over a longer period of time, thereby spreading out the workload of election officials.”
Former president Barack Obama says Democrats have woken up after being “complacent” four years ago.
The early voting has led to long lines at polling places nationwide, and “reflects a widespread sense of urgency to chart the country’s course over the next four years, despite the voting challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic,” the Post says.
“Among the states with the highest percentage of its total 2016 vote already cast so far are Texas at 86.9%, Washington at 76.1%, Montana at 75.4% and North Carolina at 71.5%,” Bloomberg reports.
So far, the higher numbers appear to favor the Democrats, thanks at least in part to nearly unprecedented turnouts among younger voters. However, that could change come Nov. 3 when many Republicans are expected to cast their ballots in person.
“Of the more than 34 million ballots already cast in states that report party registration, Democrats account for 48%, Republicans 29%, minor parties less than 1% and those with no party affiliation 22%,” Bloomberg says, citing the U.S. Election Project.
Nowhere has the early-voting spike been more unexpected than in Texas, where about 8 million voters have cast early ballots — roughly 90% of the overall vote in 2016 — and where nine counties have already surpassed their 2016 totals, the Post reports.
Another state that illustrates the historic nature of the early-voting phenomenon is North Carolina.
As of early Wednesday morning, more than 3.6 million North Carolinians had already cast their ballots, reports CNN, citing the state elections board. That accounts for nearly 50% of all registered voters in the state, and roughly three-quarters of the total votes cast in 2016.
