US Election: Early Voting Gingering Highest Turnout Since 1908
50m Americans cast vote 11 days to November 3
Texas surpasses 70% of 2016 voters’ turnout
Following up the post below, Reuters is presenting an eye-catching line about early voting and what it might say about turnout in the November 3, 2020 United States (US) presidential election.
According to data from the US Elections Project, with 11 days to go, more than 50 million Americans have cast ballots in the presidential election
The data projected this is a pace that could lead to the highest turnout of voters in more than a century.
The eye-popping figure is a sign of intense interest in the contest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, as well as Americans’ desire to reduce their risk of exposure to COVID-19, which has killed more than 221,000 people across the US.
As a safer way to vote amidst this Coronavirus pandemic health challenge, many States have expanded in-person early voting and mail-in ballots ahead of November 3 election day.
The high level of early voting has led Michael McDonald, the University of Florida professor, who administers the US Elections Project, to predict a record turnout of about 150 million, 65 per cent of eligible voters, the highest since 1908.
In Texas, voting has already surpassed 70 per cent of the total turnout in 2016.
President Trump was scheduled to hold rallies on Friday in the battleground State of Florida, where opinion polls show a tight race and over four million (4m) votes cast, approaching half the total four years ago.
His Democratic Party contender, Joe Biden also had schedules that included delivering a speech in his home state of Delaware on plans for leading a recovery from the global pandemic. – With The Guardian reports
