Early Voters Reach 92 Million, 2 Days Before Election Day

By Mary Anne R. First Posted: Nov 01, 2020 10:12 PM EST

Over 92 million early voters have already cast their ballots by Saturday, with just days remaining before Election Day.

The huge number of early voters was about 67 percent of the 2016 presidential election's total votes.

According to the nonpartisan U.S. Elections Project, the 2016 presidential election garnered a total of 139 million, as Fox News reported.

Many American voters have opted to participate early in the election by mailing their ballots due to this year's COVID-19 pandemic. Many states have also changed their laws to allow the extension of mail-in voting.

Approximately 58 million Americans voted using mail-in ballots. Those who voted early in-person were around 33 million, according to a Fox News report.

In Texas, voters have already surpassed their total number of votes in 2016, with 9.6 million ballots cast.

In Florida, over 8.2 million ballots have already been cast as of Saturday morning, the Florida Division Elections said. That surpassed the 6.6 million early votes in the 2016 presidential election, according to ABC News.

Democrats are gaining a lead by 116,051 votes over Republicans in turnout among registered voters. This was reportedly a result of the Democratic Party's months-long campaign, urging voters to cast their ballots by mail ahead of Election Day.

Republicans were said to have been closing the gap in the in-person voting by 528,000 during the early voting period.

A Trump campaign adviser in Florida noted that Democrats did a great job of having their voters register for absentee ballots and having those voters return those ballots.

"We worked very hard to register more Republicans than had ever been registered before," the Trump campaign adviser said in an ABC News report.

Data from the Florida election officials showed that Republicans closed their gaps in voter registration to 134,242 voters, down from 327,483 back in 2016.

Republicans have relied on campaign rallies across the state for this year's Election Day.

"I know people like to roll their eyes at the rallies, but they do energize the voters," a Trump adviser said.

The Trump adviser added that officials provide masks and encourage the practice of social distancing. However, attendees rarely comply with the guidance.

About 28 percent of the early votes were from those who did not vote four years ago. The Washington Post reported that Black and voters under 30 have voted in large numbers.

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential bet Joe Biden continues to gain a lead in polls in the swing states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Florida. However, Florida remains to be a toss-up in the race between Biden and President Donald Trump.

Back in 2016, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina went for Trump. The said states would be critical to a Trump victory for this year's presidential election.

Florida is the largest among traditional battleground states. During his recent stop in the Sunshine State, Biden emphasized it, saying that Florida can determine the election's outcome.

"We win Florida and it's all over," Biden noted in a Fox News report.