Mid-term elections: early voter turnout increases in several key states | American News

Early voter turnout is increasing in several key states, suggesting that more Americans could vote in this year's midterm elections compared to previous years.

In Georgia, where the accusations of repression of voters were right of the race of the governors, the elections were considerable, indicated the Atlanta Journal Constitution. On the first day of advance voting this month, voter turnout was three times higher than 2014: 69,049 people voted against 20,898.

Last Saturday, waiting to vote at Cobb County's main polling station lasted three to four hours, the newspaper reported.

In Florida, where another fierce rivalry of the governor has pitted Progressive Andrew Gillum against Trump's ally, Ron DeSantis, more than 2.7 million people have already voted in person or by missing ballot, a record for the middle of career, Politico announced. This means that more than a fifth of active state voters have already exercised their right.

Texas has a long list of low voter turnout – only 28.9% in 2014, the penultimate among all states. But it has risen this year, according to Pew Charitable Trusts.

Approximately 2.4 million people voted in the early days of early voting in the 30 largest counties of the state, more than the total number of advance and correspondence votes cast during the 2014 voting period, revealed the United States Elections Project. In Dallas County, the number of votes cast in the 2016 presidential election is near, according to the Dallas Morning News. Presidential contests generally have a much higher turnout than midterms.

Texas has always been solidly Republican, but Democratic Senate challenger Beto O'Rourke is offering Republican Ted Cruz a run for his money this year.

In total, 22 million votes were registered in the United States, said Michael McDonald, a professor of political science at the University of Florida, who heads the American election project. In 11 states, there are already more advance votes recorded with a week before polling day than pre-recorded votes in 2014.

"We are certainly about to have a very high participation rate," McDonald said.

If the trend continues, the participation rate could exceed 49% in 1966, a figure that has not been exceeded since the middle of the year. Even though voting rates are falling, voter turnout is likely to remain well above the 40% average over the last three decades.

"As the days go by, I'm more confident we'll see the high-participation scenario," McDonald said.

The anticipated vote numbers have also increased in Maryland, Montana, Arkansas and Tennessee.

According to a survey conducted by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School, 40% of voters under the age of 30 said they would vote "permanently" at the mid-term. This represented 27% in 2010 and 26% in 2014.

It is impossible to say for sure who will be helped by increased participation. Democrats are banking on a "blue wave" that is driving voters to the polls. A high participation rate probably means more young people, more people of color and more low-income people will vote, McDonald said.

But Republican-affiliated voters outperformed Democrats in early voting in seven of the closely watched eight states last week, according to data analyzed by NBC News. According to Politico, Republicans have a lead over the votes cast in Florida, though they are smaller than the advance they had in 2014.

At this stage, it is only possible to track the votes by party affiliation – and not for whom the person actually voted. And the totals do not include non-party voters.

The election forecasts currently indicate that Democrats are likely to win the House of Representatives but the Republicans retain the Senate. Republicans should be governors in a narrow majority of states.