Early voters abound in swing states

New York: More than 64 million Americans have already voted — and about half of them are in the dozen or so contested states that will ultimately decide who wins the Electoral College and the election. An analysis by The New York Times showed that out of the total early votes cast by October 26, 31 million were in battleground states, and 24 million in likely Biden win states, and only 9.2 million in likely Trump win states.

Even more significant, early votes in these battlegrounds account for more than half of those states’ total votes in 2016. Nationally, voters have already cast about 46 percent of the total vote counted in 2016, according to the United States Elections Project.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many states had changed voting rules, allowing millions to vote by mail for the first time, and many others have voted in person early to avoid an anticipated crush of voters on Election Day. Voter enthusiasm for and against President Trump has also fueled record-level early turnout across the country.

Democrats appear much more eager about early voting. In the five battleground states that report party registration, nearly two million more registered Democrats have voted than Republicans so far.

In Pennsylvania — a state Mr. Trump narrowly won in 2016 — more than three times as many Democrats have voted than Republicans. The party breakdown is more even in Florida and North Carolina.

President Trump, who has railed against mail voting, is counting on a “red wave” of in-person voting on Nov. 3 to overcome what appears to be an early voting advantage for Democrats.

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