When early voting in Texas opened this Monday, record numbers of voters showed up. It’s a trend that’s also been witnessed in other states as we get closer to the November election.
According to CNN, there have also been “startling numbers,” in Georgia and North Carolina. Citing the Georgia secretary of state, the outlet reported that first-day voting totals in the state were more than double the record. North Carolina’s turnout wasn’t quite as large, but it still broke a record.
In Texas, most of the early voters have been from the state’s blue-leaning urban and suburban counties, according to The Hill. Overall, NBC News figures show that 46% of the more than 55 million that have requested mail-in and early in-person votes nationally are registered Democrats, 29% are registered Republicans and 25% are identified as “other.”
As of Wednesday, NBC News’ early vote tracker found that a little more than 1.5 million mail-in and in-person votes had been cast nationally. Of those, 45% were cast by registered Democrats and 38% were cast by registered Republicans.
“Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has pushed for Democratic voters to utilize early voting more aggressively, seen as a tactic to help bank votes ahead of Election Day,” NBC News said. “While former President Donald Trump has been critical of early voting, his campaign and the Republican Party have also been pushing for voters to cast early ballots.”
CNN reported that data from Catalist even indicates that “Republicans may be cutting into the Democratic edge in early voting,” this election season. For example, the outlet noted that more Republicans than Democrats have already cast votes in Nevada, a key swing state in the presidential race.
Per the Federal Elections Commission, more than 158 million total ballots were cast in the 2020 election and The Hill said roughly two thirds of those votes (100 million) were cast early and 65 million were cast by mail. Since that election took place amid COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, some are expecting early voting to decrease slightly this year.
Most states allow election workers to begin processing early voting ballots before the Nov. 5 election, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. However, some – including swing state Pennsylvania, where at least 1 million mail in votes have already been cast – do not allow ballots to be counted until election day.