As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 2.8 million people have cast ballots for the 2024 contest.
Nearly 3 million Americans have cast early ballots either in person or by mail with under four weeks to go before the November election, an election tracking site shows.
Early Voters By Party
Of that figure, more than 503,000 people have voted early in person, and more than 2.33 million have voted by mail, the tracking site found.
In the states reporting how people voted by party, more than 56.3 of people who have returned early ballots were Democrats, representing about 711,000 people. The other 27.6 percent were Republican, representing 348,000 voters, and 16.1 percent were independent or part of a third party, or 202,000, it found.
By Age, Gender, Ethnicity
When brown down by age, nearly 60 percent of early voters were over 65, the tracking site found. Another 28 percent were aged 41 to 65, 9 percent were aged 26 to 40, and only 3 percent were aged 18 to 25.
Over 54.4 percent of people who returned early ballots were female, and 44.6 percent were male, the site found. Another 1.1 percent were marked “unknown,” according to the site.
Among early voters, about 72 percent were white, 8.6 percent were black, 2.2 percent were Hispanic, 2.4 percent were Asian-American, and 14.3 percent were marked “unknown,” it found.
Early Voting Starts in Arizona
Early in-person voting started Wednesday in Arizona, making it the first of this year’s presidential battleground states where all residents can cast a ballot at a traditional polling place ahead of election Day.
The start of in-person voting in the closely contested state is also drawing the presidential tickets, with both campaigns scheduling visits in the state this week.
Wednesday’s voting overlaps with campaign stops by both vice presidential nominees, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Republican Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who are holding events in Tucson on Wednesday.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, is scheduled to host a rally in Phoenix on Thursday, while former President Donald Trump will hold an event on Sunday in Prescott Valley, located north of Phoenix.
Early voting, particularly by mail, has long been popular in Arizona, where nearly 80 percent voted before election Day in 2020, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Each of Arizona’s 15 counties is required to open at least one site for in-person voting, which runs until the Friday before the Nov. 5 general election. In Maricopa County, a dozen voting centers are scattered around the metro Phoenix area.
Changes in North Carolina’s election
Following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, the state’s election board this week approved an emergency measure that changes voting rules.
The rule changes apply to 13 counties that saw infrastructure, voting sites, and mail delivery impacted by Helene, which made landfall in late September.
One change approved by the board includes enhancing in-person early voting by allowing county boards to modify early voting sites, dates, and hours. It will also allow a county election board to open a polling site in another county depending on the circumstances, among other changes, the state election board said.
Voters in impacted counties can now request an absentee ballot in person up until Nov. 4, the day before the general election, it said. Completed ballots can be dropped off by Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at a polling location.
Voters who were displaced are also allowed to turn in ballots to another county’s elections board by the same deadline, the state said. Previously, voters could turn in absentee ballots to early voting sites in their county or to their county elections board by election Day.
Other Activities
South Carolina took action earlier this month to extend its voter registration deadline to Oct. 14, while Georgia elections officials have said they do not expect major disruptions from Helene.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
