More than 90 million people have already voted in the US election and turnout is set to eclipse the 138 million who went to the polls in 2016
More than 90 million Americans have cast ballots in the U.S. presidential election, according to a tally on Saturday from the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida, setting the stage for the highest participation rate in over a century.
The record-breaking pace, about 65% of the total turnout in 2016, reflects intense interest in the vote, in which incumbent Donald Trump, a Republican, is up against Democratic nominee Joe Biden, a former vice president.
Huge numbers of people have voted by mail or at early in-person polling sites amid concerns about exposure to the coronavirus at busy Election Day voting places.
The record-breaking pace, about 65% of the total turnout in 2016, reflects intense interest in the vote
Experts have predicted turnout will easily surpass the 138 million who voted in 2016
Trump trails Biden in national opinion polls amid criticism of the Trump administration's handling of COVID-19, which has killed nearly 229,000 people in the United States, with numbers of new infections once again breaking daily records as Election Day nears on Tuesday.
Democrats hold a significant advantage in early voting due to their embrace of postal ballots, which Republicans have historically cast in large numbers but have shunned amid repeated and unfounded attacks by Trump, who says the system is prone to widespread fraud.
Experts have predicted turnout will easily surpass the 138 million who voted in 2016. Only 47 million votes were submitted before Election Day four years ago.
In 20 states that report party registration data, 19.9 million registered Democrats have already voted, compared with 13 million Republicans and 10.1 million with no party affiliation. The data does not show for whom the votes were cast.
Huge numbers of people have voted by mail or at early in-person polling sites amid concerns about exposure to the coronavirus at busy Election Day voting places
A voter drops off her mail in ballot at a dropbox at the Salt Lake County election office in Salt Lake City, Utah
A new poll shows that with Election Day rapidly approaching, President Trump has begun to close the gap on Joe Biden's lead.
According to a Fox News national survey of likely voters released Friday, Biden's lead over Trump has narrowed from a 10-point advantage to eight points.
The poll indicates that Biden is now ahead of Trump by a 52-44 per cent margin, with two per cent of likely voters backing a third-party candidate and two per cent being undecided.
The new poll showed that Biden's lead had dropped from 10 points to eight points in the last three weeks. He is now leading by 52-44 per cent, but he previously lead by 53-43 per cent