- It appears that calls to get out the vote early are being heeded. After just 57.1 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in 2016, turnout could reach record levels this year, with many states’ early voting numbers nearing their total votes from four years ago. [Vox / Jen Kirby and Roni Molla]
- Texas, which has historically had among the lowest voter turnout rates, has already received more early votes than it did total votes in 2016. This is especially surprising considering Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this month restricted drop-off boxes for mail-in ballots to one per county. [Vox / Nicole Narea]
- Florida is also seeing high turnout, especially among young voters. Research from Tufts University shows that more than four times as many young voters in the state have cast early votes than in 2016. [WINK / Andryanna Shepard and Jack Lowenstein]
- Young voters as a whole seem more enthusiastic this year than in past elections. Eligible voters under 30 could break their record turnout of 48 percent, set in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected president. Turnout among young voters was low in 2016. [Washington Post / Michelle Ye Hee Lee]
- On the surface, it would seem that this would be good news for Democrats, particularly in swing states like Florida. But in Miami-Dade County, Democrats are voting at lower rates than Republicans and lower rates than 2016, when President Donald Trump carried Florida. [Politico / Marc Caputo and Matt Dixon]
- Overall, early voting is a strong indicator of overall turnout, but does not really tell us much about the results. Democrats have an edge in early voting, but their lead is narrowing, and Republicans are more likely to vote in person on Election Day. [Vox / Jen Kirby and Rani Molla]
- Black voters will be a key demographic — they turned out in lower numbers in 2016 than in 2012. They could make the difference in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, but they will have to overcome efforts to suppress their votes. [Vox / Sean Collins]
- Biden is counting on strong Black turnout in Milwaukee, Detroit, and Philadelphia to win back the three critical states Hillary Clinton lost in 2016. But some polls have suggested that Trump’s share of the Black vote against Biden will be higher than it was against Clinton. [AP / Kat Stafford]
- The national record for voter turnout was set in 1908, but that could be broken this year. Data from the US Elections Project predicts that about 150 million ballots will be cast in 2020, representing 65 percent of eligible voters. [The Guardian / Joan E Greve and Maanvi Singh]
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