US Election 2020: Democrats out-vote Republicans by a 2-1 ratio in record early vote flood
More than 22 million ballots have been cast in the US ahead of election day on 3 November, according to media reports.
At the same point in the 2016 poll, about 6m votes had been cast.
Americans’ rush to vote is leading election experts to predict that a record 150 million votes may be cast, and turnout rates could be higher than in any presidential election since 1908.
“It’s crazy,” said Michael McDonald, a University of Florida political scientist who has long tracked voting for his site ElectProject.org.
McDonald’s analysis shows roughly ten times as many people have voted compared with this point in 2016, reports the intelligencer.com.
Dems ahead
And while a breakdown of the party affiliation of early voters are only available in some states, AP reports that estimates uniformly show a very large Democratic Party skew.
“So far the turnout has been lopsided, with Democrats outvoting Republicans by a 2-1 ratio in the 42 states included in The Associated Press count.”
Reports indicate that registered Democrats have so far outvoted registered Republicans – casting more than double the number of ballots. And of these early voting Democrats, women and black Americans are voting in particularly high numbers, reports suggest.
“Some are motivated by dislike for Donald Trump, while others have been energised by racial justice protests throughout the summer following the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota,” according to the BBC.
State records tumble
Texas, a state that has relatively tight restrictions on who can qualify for postal voting, set a record for most ballots cast on the first day of early voting Tuesday reports said.
On the Columbus Day federal holiday, officials in Georgia reported 126,876 votes cast – also a state record.
In Ohio, a crucial swing state, more than 2.3m postal ballots have been requested, double the figure in 2016.
The early voting surge is being driven by a dislike for Donald Trump, while others have been energised by racial justice protests throughout the summer following the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, according to the BBC.
But this early advantage does not mean Democrats can rest easy.
Republicans, who claim postal voting is vulnerable to fraud, say Democrats may win the early vote, but that GOP (Grand Old Party) will show up in large numbers on election day.
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