Pre-Election Voting Surpasses 2016 Early Ballots

By Dana Cruz Oct 25 2020, 22:52 PM EDT

Pre-election voting has surpassed early ballots cast in 2016, with only nine days remaining before Election Day.

According to U.S. Elections Project, nearly 59.4 million early votes were already cast so far as of Sunday night. Of these votes, about 39.9 million are mail-in early ballots, and 19.4 million were in-person votes.

In the elections of 2016, there were 58.3 million pre-election votes total cast, including early ballots in three-vote-by-mail states, reported CNN.

The rise in pre-election voting now far surpasses the turnout of the 2016 election.

Then, early votes accounted for 42 percent of all ballots cast in the election.

Record-Breaking Voter Turnout

States are reporting record-breaking voter turnout as more people grow eager to vote either by mail or in-person, reported Associated Press.

The turnout is not that surprising, considering the coronavirus pandemic has forced Americans to exercise pre-election voting. On top of that, the U.S. is just a few days away from Election Day.

In-person early voting surged in big states in recent days. Some locations have already opened in Florida, Texas, and others.

With those polling places opening, millions of new votes piled on top of mail-in ballots as voters try to avoid crowded places on November 3.

Who's Voting?

On October 15, Democrats made up 51 percent of the total votes cast, compared to 25 percent from Republicans.

Come Sunday, the gap was cut smaller as Republicans made 31 percent of the votes. Democrats are leading in initial ballot counts, but Republicans are clearly closing the gap.

For instance, as Florida precincts opened for in-person voting, Republicans surged past Democrats in in-person voting.

More GOP voters are beginning to show up for early in-person voting, signifying that they followed President Donald Trump's warnings on mail-in voting fraud.

While people can start painting a picture of who is leading even before the election, the early votes are still an imperfect indicator of who is more likely to win, the AP News said.

The data provided only shows party registration, not the candidate voters' support. In addition to that, more GOP voters are expected to show up on election day.

So, it's more likely for the gap to get smaller as election day gets closer. There also remains the chance of Republicans outvoting Democrats in the final week before the election.

Early Voting Begins In Florida — I Voted stickers are seen people cast their early ballots at the Coral Gables Branch Library precinct on October 19, 2020 in Coral Gables, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

"This is a glass half-full, glass half-empty situation," said Republican pollster John Couvillon. He noted the Republicans are starting to show up, but they need to "rapidly narrow that gap.

"Michael McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida, added that GOP voters would show "at some point."

"You can't force everyone through a vote center on Election Day," he said. "Are you going to expect all those Republicans to stand in line for eight hours?"

Looking at age, those in the 18 to 29 years old age group were casting more ballots and make a greater share of pre-election votes than they did in 2016.

Of the key states in the election, all 14 stated showed upticks in votes from Americans aged 30 and below compared to four years ago.

Meanwhile, the oldest voters showed the greatest decline in their share of early voting.