New Delhi: On average 150 million Americans vote in every election cycle in America. According to CNN, data based on the statement of election officials and findings from Catalist and Edison Research revealed more than 15 million American had cast their votes early Tuesday. By the end of the day, in a matter of a couple of hours, more than 18 million Americans had voted.
With less than two weeks leading up to the elections more than 26 million Americans have already voted for their preferred candidate. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Sunday on CBS News that the state expected more than 70 percent of its residents to register their vote before Election Day.
Data by Catalist reveal that the Republicans could be cutting into the slight edge the Democratic held through encouraging early voting among the party voters. More Republicans than Democrats have voted in Nevada, while voting for both factions is on par in the Northern states. Early voting is particularly a cause of concern for the Democrats, who might be reminded by mail-in ballots that swarmed in after the official vote counting that led Biden though to a victory.
The Republican Party early advantage does not foretell the outcome of the 2024 American election. The high number of early votes for the Republic party might just mean that the party is doing more to encourage their voters to go out and vote early. Each vote holds an equal weightage in the elections, neither party will gain an advantage by gaining a lead through early voting. The final outcome of the election will be determined after all the votes have been counted after the Election Day.
Unlike the 2020 election where the majority of the votes were casted through mail-ballots due to pandemic conditions, the majority of Americans are expected to cast their votes in-person in this election cycle. Republican strategists have been pushing their voter base to vote early in the election, whereas Trump has not particularly embraced the idea of early voting.
A Look at Early Voting in Different States
North Carolina: Nearly 1.4 million early votes have been casted in the state. In comparison, in 2020, a total of 5.5 million votes were registered in the state. As of now, the Democrats and the Republican have received equal votes in the state. Trump emerged victorious in the state during 2016 and 2020, however his influence in the state has considerably declined in the past few years. Trump has organized several campaigns to gain some momentum in the state. According to the Republican strategist, Doug Heye, the percentage of early votes for each party in the state is not a cause of concern, instead, he is more curious about how the unaffiliated voters vote in North Carolina as they are likely to determine the outcome in the state.
Georgia: More than 1.7 million votes have been casted in Georgia where less than 5 million people vote in an election on an average. Georgia voters do not register by party affiliation so it is unclear the percentage of voters for each party. What we know from data is 55 percent of women opted for early voting, while 45 percent voted early in the state, according to the findings by Catalist. More than half the women voters voted for Biden in the 2020 election cycle and women voters also made more than half the total votes. Older voters made up the largest proportion of early voters, according to exit polls. A breakdown of the total early voters by race reveals white Americans formed the largest early voter base, followed by 31 percent of black voters, and Latino and Asian voters each made up 3 percent of the total voting.
Other states: In Nevada, less than 1.5 million voters cast votes in the state every election cycle, and in the pre-election cycle this year more than 280,000 voters have opted to vote early. More men than women have casted votes in the state. In Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, more than 400,000 and 1 million ballots have been cast in the state, while more women than men have voted in these states.
Determining the outcome of the final result based on the early voting numbers is difficult at this point, however, the Republicans gaining an early lead in the elections have ruffled some feathers in the Democratic camp. The share of early votes turned in through for the Republican Party has risen from 27 percent to 32 percent from the 2020 election cycle, while the pre-election votes for the Democratic have remained constant at 48 percent for the Democratic Party.
