US Election 2020: American voters make history in early voting; more than 70 million cast ballots
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Observing the trend of early voting this year, Michael McDonald, the University of Florida professor who administers the US Elections Project, is predicting the total turnout of the US elections to be nearly 150 million this year
As the US elections inch closer to the November 03 deadline, the two leaders — Donald Trump and Joe Biden — have fast-tracked their election campaigns and are urging more people to cast their votes.
Several Hollywood actors, sports legends and other celebrities, too, are encouraging Americans to opt for mail-in voting and/or go to the voting booth and cast their ballots marketing this to be one of the most important elections in the history of US politics.
With this push to the locals, the Americans have created history with more than 70 million Americans casting their vote in early voting, and the number is still increasing as the November 03 deadline inches closer.
According to the US Elections Project, the tally of more than 70 million is half the total amount of the turnout from the 2016 election when Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigned against each other, with Clinton winning in opinion polls but losing in main elections.
As per the Tuesday tally, this record-breaking number — which is increasing with every passing hour — could lead to the highest voter turnout in percentage terms in more than a century.
This new number shows the newly-found interest of the American voters in the US election 2020, which could be due to the uprising caused by the 'Black Lives Matter' protests that crowded the streets of the US, or the rising death toll caused by the novel coronavirus — which Trump has been alleged to downplaying. This number also shows that people are trying to avoid the crowd on the election day (November 03) adopting to vote early to make sure they do not contract the deadly virus — which is expected to bring another surge with the onset of winters.
The opinion polls are showing Biden as the lead runner, as of now with more of Democrat supporters opting for mail-in voting — a system that Trump has openly criticised and questioned repeatedly. As of now, Democrats hold a rough majority of two-to-one in the early voting numbers, with Republicans rapidly narrowing the gap with in-person voting in the last few weeks.
Observing the trend of early voting this year, Michael McDonald, the University of Florida professor who administers the US Elections Project, is predicting the total turnout of the US elections to be nearly 150 million this year, representing 65% of those eligible to vote, the highest rate since 1908.