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Image source, J. Condesa / Getty Images
US state election officials reported a record number of voters who voted before Election Day on November 3.
According to the US Elections Project, more than 22 million Americans voted early on Friday, October 17, in person or by mail.
At the same time, in the run-up to 2016, around 6 million votes were cast.
Experts say the rise in early voting is related to the corona virus pandemic, prompting many to seek alternatives to voting on Election Day.
2020 American Elections: Who Really Decides the Winner?
On Tuesday, Texas, a state with relatively strict regulations on who is eligible to vote by mail, set a record number of votes on the first day of early voting.
On Monday, the Columbus federal holiday, Georgia officials reported 126,876 votes, also a state record.
In Ohio, a key fluctuating state, voters registered more than 2.3 million postal ballots, double the number in 2016.
Reports show that Democrats vote for more than Republicans, with more than double the votes. And among those Democrats who voted early, women and Americans of color voted in exceptionally high numbers. Some were fueled by a dislike of Donald Trump, while others were fueled by protests against justice and against racism in the summer after George Floyd’s assassination in Minnesota.
But this early lead does not mean that the Democrats could declare victory. Republicans, who argue that voting by mail is susceptible to fraud, said Democrats could win early voting, but Republicans would appear in large numbers of votes on Election Day.
Image source, fake images
Retired voters lined up to vote in Indiana earlier this month
According to a 2017 study by the Brennan Center for Justice, the overall rate of voter fraud in the US is between 0.00004% and 0.0009%.
The large number of voters led to long lines, with some waiting until 11 o’clock for a chance to vote.
Younger people, who used to struggle to get to the polls, are likely to show up in greater numbers this year. The youth vote is likely to be the highest since 2008 in the election of Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States.
A recent Axios poll found that 4 in 10 college students said they planned to protest if Trump won. 6 out of 10 people say they are going to humiliate those they can vote for, but decide not to resign.
In contrast, only 3% of the students surveyed said they would object if Joe Biden were elected.
