Americans voting early by mail, in person in record numbers

With the US presidential election less than one week away, close to 70 million votes already have been cast, surpassing the 58.3 million total pre-election votes in 2016, and possibly leading to the highest voter turnout in more than a century.

The desire to avoid risk from COVID-19, which has killed around 225,000 people in the US, the fear of postal delays for mailed-in ballots — as well as deep-seated passion for both candidates — have contributed to the early voting numbers.

Michael McDonald, the University of Florida professor who administers the US Elections Project, predicted a record voter turnout of about 150 million, representing 65 percent of those eligible to vote, the highest rate since 1908.

According to the project, as of late Tuesday, the total number of early votes was 69,645,195; there were 46,514,012 mailed ballots, while in-person votes were 23,131,183.

Overall, Democrats hold roughly a 2-1 advantage in early voting numbers, Reuters reported.

In 16 of 19 states that provide such data, Democrats far outnumber Republicans. But campaign managers for both President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, as well as various polls, show the gap between the two is closing, especially in key battleground states, and both political parties say more Republicans than Democrats are expected to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov 3.

On Monday, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien told reporters that the president will win the Election Day vote easily, in part because of an extensive get-out-the-vote operation.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that a person close to the Biden campaign, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said it's "absolutely possible" for Trump to catch up on Election Day.

"The early vote is showing two things: We're clearly headed to record-level turnout, nationally and likely in just about every state," said Tom Bonier, the head of TargetSmart, a Democratic data firm. "And it's clearly showing us that Democrats are highly engaged and will be themselves setting record levels of turnout."

Bonier emphasized that Republicans are also motivated to vote. "The open question," he said, "is whether that level of Republican engagement and enthusiasm can match or exceed [that of] Democrats. That's the part of the equation that we can't solve until Election Day."

In Florida, one of the key battleground states, people have been voting for more than a week, and election supervisors said they expect potentially 60 percent of the state's registered voters to cast ballots before the election.

Voting is high in other battleground states, according to election officials: Texas has already received nearly 87 percent of the votes it counted in the 2016 election; North Carolina 72 percent; and Georgia 71 percent.

Trump has lobbied early voters who backed Biden to change their votes for him. Some states, including Michigan and Wisconsin, do allow voters to "spoil" their ballots and vote again in some cases.

"Strongly Trending (Google) since immediately after the second debate is CAN I CHANGE MY VOTE? This refers changing it to me. The answer in most states is YES," Trump tweeted Tuesday.

Clerks have asked Wisconsin's high court to issue an order that would allow them to ensure votes are counted despite a misprint on tens of thousands of ballots.

On Monday, a divided US Supreme Court said that mail-in ballots in Wisconsin could be counted only if they are received by Election Day. Democrats in the state had asked the court to allow the counting of ballots that arrive up to six days after Election Day if they were postmarked by Nov 3.

The ruling was 5-3, coming just before the Senate voted to add Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the court.

Election officials say black voters have tuned out in large numbers in Georgia and North Carolina, where Democrats are hoping to pick up Senate seats.

A poll of 18- to 29-year-olds released Monday by the Institute of Politics at Harvard's Kennedy School found that 63 percent of respondents said they would definitely be voting in the election, the highest such measure in the 20 years that the poll has been conducted. The finding was far higher than in 2016, when the same survey found that 47 percent of respondents said they would definitely vote.

Agencies contributed to this story.