Record broken as 47Million Americans vote ahead of 3 November
With 12 days to the 3 November presidential election, a record 47.5 million American voters have already cast their votes.
The figure eclipses the 47.2 million early votes that were cast before Election Day in 2016.
Data compiled by the U.S. Elections Project said the 47.5 million Americans, who have turned in ballots, are roughly eight times the number of early votes cast at about same point before the 2016 presidential contest, and above
The surge comes after many states have expanded mail-in voting and in-person early voting as a safe way to vote during the coronavirus pandemic and amid voter eagerness to weigh in on the political future of
Republican President Donald Trump, who is facing a stiff challenge from Democrat Joe Biden.
Biden leads Trump in national opinion polls, although surveys in crucial battleground states indicate a tighter race.
The high level of early voting has led Michael McDonald, the University of Florida professor who administers the U.S. Elections Project, to predict a record turnout of about 150 million, representing 65% of eligible voters, the highest rate since 1908.
Trump has railed against mail-in voting, making unfounded accusations that it leads to fraud.
Experts have said such fraud is rare.
Those attacks by the president have shown signs of depressing Republican interest in voting by mail.
Democrats have roughly doubled the number of returned mail-in ballots by Republicans in states that report voter registration data by party, according to the Elections Project.
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