More midterm voters turning out early, say election watchers

Americans are getting to the polls ahead of Nov. 3 with unusually high participation from Black, Hispanic, and politically unaffiliated voters in several states, according to election researchers. More than 42 million Americans cast early votes by Thursday, according to a tracker project by the University of Florida’s Election Lab. Nearly 22 million people voted early in person, and 20 million have voted by mail. For comparison, in the 2022 midterms, about 46 million people voted during the early voting period.

What was the past turnout for elections? Michael McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida, said in an interview with NPR that voter turnout has increased since the 2022 and 2018 midterm elections. The 2018, 2020, and 2022 elections were three of the highest-turnout U.S. elections for decades, according to PEW Research:

• About two-thirds of the population turned out for the 2020 presidential election—the highest rate for any national election since 1900.

• The 2018 election, with 49% turnout, was the highest rate for a midterm in over a century.

• The 2022 election’s turnout rate of 46% exceeded that of midterm elections since 1970.

What are the numbers for minorities? McDonald told NPR that African-American turnout is up, specifically in states like North Carolina, and Georgia. Hispanics have more than doubled their performance on the same day in 2022, he said.

What could this mean for the parties? Democrats are voting at higher rates than Republicans so far, with a difference of about 9-6 million, according to states that share party registration data. The number of unaffiliated voters has also increased.

Charles Stewart, a political science professor at MIT, told NPR’s “Morning Edition” that Democrats are more likely to vote early and Republicans are more likely to vote on the day of the election.

President Donald Trump told people in a post to vote early and not to wait until election day, and many other political candidates from both parties have asked for the same thing.