[ad_1]
A week before the US presidential election, more than 70 million Americans have cast their votes. This corresponds to more than half of all the votes that were cast in the elections four years ago. That emerged Tuesday from data from the University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald’s “America Elections Project.” In 2016, according to the FEC electoral commission, about 137 million Americans voted in federal elections.
The high level of early voting led McDonald to predict a turnout of about 150 million American voters. That would correspond to 65 percent of the electorate, the highest quota since 1908.
Early voting is currently particularly high in the highly competitive state of Texas, where about 87 percent of the total number of voters from four years ago have already voted. Participation is also high in the so-called swing states of Florida and North Carolina. In the November 3 election, US President Donald Trump will face Democratic challenger Joe Biden. In addition, all the seats in the House of Representatives and a good third of the seats in the Senate will be reassigned.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, more Americans than usual are expected to seize the opportunity to vote in person or by mail before Election Day. Based on data from the “Draft America Elections,” it appears that significantly more registered Democrats than Republicans have voted so far. However, registering with a party does not necessarily say anything about voting behavior.
Democrats are calling for pre-election polls
Observers suspect, however, that the majority of early voters are voting for Biden. The Democratic Challenger campaign team had actively encouraged supporters to vote early, while the Republican President of the United States, Donald Trump, had repeatedly linked voting by mail to fraud without substantiated evidence. During an election campaign appearance in West Salem, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, Trump again criticized a recount that could take several days in some states.
In publicly known polls, Trump is currently doing relatively poorly against Biden. Due to the complex electoral system, in which states are particularly important, polls have limited informational value. However, polls in key states also indicate Biden’s leadership.
