/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f72424194c01b88e06ca2fd/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=4750&cropY1=0&cropY2=2671&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "More Than 1 Million People Have Already Voted In The Election")
Topline
More than one million votes have already been cast in the November election, according to data from the United States Election Project, marking a noticeable increase over voting trends in 2016 even before the first presidential debate.
A very long line of voters wait to cast their ballots at the Fairfax County Government Center on … [+]
The Washington Post via Getty Images
Key Facts
As of press time, 1,012,211 ballots have been cast so far in states that publicly report that data and already have voting underway: Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The three states reporting voter registration data—Florida, Iowa and North Carolina—report that 53.8% of their votes have been cast by registered Democrats, as compared with 16.7% of Republicans and 29.2% of unaffiliated voters.
North Carolina has the most votes cast so far (248,400), as compared with approximately 12,370 votes cast this far before the election in 2016.
Voters in 24 states have so far requested 64,157,727 mail-in ballots, and CNN noted Friday that the number of ballot requests in 15 states had already exceeded the total number of votes cast prior to election day in 2016.
In a blog post Sunday, Michael McDonald, a professor at the University of Florida who runs the Elections Project, an informational site, noted the actual number of ballots cast is likely higher—as complete records are not available for all states—and the increase over 2016 is likely due to state laws expanding early voting, an increase in mail-in voting due to the pandemic and voter interest.
A recent Washington Post/University of Maryland poll found that 61% of registered voters prefer to vote early in this election, as compared with only 41% who said they voted early in 2016; not all states will actually start counting those votes prior to polls closing on election day, however.
Big Number
50 million. That’s the approximate number of votes cast prior to election day in 2016, according to CNN. 136,669,276 total votes were cast in the 2016 presidential election, according to the Federal Elections Commission.
Crucial Quote
“We’ve never seen so many people vote this far in advance of a presidential election before,” McDonald told the Independent Monday. “We are in uncharted territory.”
Key Background
The actual act of voting has increasingly come under scrutiny in the run-up to the November election, with President Donald Trump repeatedly attacking mail-in voting as the practice becomes increasingly popular amid the Covid-19 pandemic. (Trump’s claims that mail-in voting will lead to voter fraud are not backed up by any evidence, which shows that mail-in voter fraud is extremely rare.) The reliance on mail-in voting has also increased the likelihood that the winner of the presidential election will not be known until after election day—potentially sowing chaos—which has resulted in prominent figures like Michelle Obama calling for voters to cast their ballots prior to election day. The million-vote milestone also comes following reports of long lines at in-person polling places in multiple states as early voting has gotten underway in September.
What To Watch For
A number of states still have not even yet started their early voting yet, as in-person voting is only underway in nine states so far and will start in October in a further 38 states. Many states have also not yet started mailing ballots out to voters yet, according to state policies compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures, including Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
Further Reading
One million Americans have already cast 2020 vote in ‘historic’ early voting surge (The Independent)
Surge of ballot requests already setting records in the US (CNN)
Early Vote Analysis for Sunday, Sept. 27 (U.S. Elections Project)
Huge Lines For Presidential Voting—In September (Forbes)
FBI Director Says No Evidence Of ‘National Voter Fraud Effort,’ Undercutting Trump (Forbes)
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