US Presidential Election 2024 is just a day away but not many may know that early voting has been going on for quite a while now. To be sure, November 5, 2024 is indeed the big election day, but millions across the United States have already sealed in their choice via early voting. The numbers and percentages are slowly coming out through official channels and poll pundits have begun their speculation to gauge who will take the Oval Office, former US president Donald Trump (Republican Party) or sitting Vice President Kamala Harris (Democratic Party).
BBC has reported that Republican voters, who support Trump, are turning up in greater numbers than last time for early voting. Trump has in past, been lashing out against early voting. As a result, Republican voters have been relatively reluctant to come out of their houses to cast an early vote.
In US Presidential Elections 2020, Republican voters made up just 30.5 per cent of the early votes cast. This time however, there is an uptick of nearly six per cent. The voter percentage is 36.1
Advantage Harris?
Opinion polls have suggested for weeks that Kamala Harris has strong support among the female voters. The early voting numbers show that 54.1 per cent of early voters are women. This may indicate an advantage for Harris but the battle is far from over.
Trump has his own gains of course. As per BBC, Trump has a slight early-voting edge in Nevada and Georgia. It's important to remember that Nevada is one of the swing states which has six electoral college votes.
What Are Opinion Polls Saying This Time?
Opinion polls carried out by various organisations in the US are indicating that Kamala Harris has a slender lead over Trump, and hence the fight is tight.
Opinion polls have gone wrong before, most notably at the time of US Presidential Election 2016 when almost everyone predicted a victory for Democratic Party's Hillary Clinton, but Trump emerged victorious in the end.
