Following encouragement from former President Trump, Republicans across the United States have once again enthusiastically participated in early voting, heading to polling stations to cast their votes in person before election day. Swing states such as Georgia and North Carolina have seen historically high rates of early voting.
As of Tuesday, October 22, nearly 19 million Americans have already voted early.
In a departure from his stance in 2020 against early and mail-in voting, Trump has been urging his supporters to vote early. Trump stated on a podcast hosted by conservative commentator Dan Bongino last week, “I tell everyone to vote early.” Republican voters have shown impressive turnout in early voting in the past.
Trump hopes that this surge in early voting will address the “mechanical technical issues” that led to his defeat in the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 midterm elections. Additionally, early voting allows campaign teams to focus on mobilizing undecided voters in the final stages of the election.
James Blair, the political director of Trump’s campaign team, noted that reluctant Republican voters have exceeded expectations in early voting, even surpassing Democratic voter turnout in some areas. He remarked, “We are starting from a position of strength.”
Research from the Associated Press suggests that Democrats in Nevada have traditionally relied on steady early voting over the past few decades to counter the Republicans’ election day strategies. However, data as of Tuesday indicates that Republicans in Nevada have outpaced Democrats in early voting by 6,000 votes.
Analysts believe that the significant increase in early voting among Democrats in 2020 was largely due to the pandemic. With the easing of the pandemic situation, Democratic voters may not be as proactive in early voting.
Michael McDonald, a political scientist at the University of Florida, noted that based on his observations, Democrats are still increasing the number of early voters. For Republicans, this signifies a reduced disadvantage, although it remains unclear whether this shift is merely a reconfiguration of voter behavior or a strengthening of support among Republican voters.