Democratic voters in Pennsylvania outnumber Republicans in the number of mail-in ballots already cast in the state. The Democrats’ lead occurs just 10 days before the November 3 election.
According to the United States Elections Project, 1,461,135 Pennsylvanians have mailed in their ballots as of October 23. More than 1 million of those belong to registered Democratic voters, whereas just 295,430 were cast by a registered Republican. The remainder of ballots cast is from unaffiliated voters or those that belong to a different party, the data shows.
This difference in numbers between parties can be explained by the fact that it is the intention of i many Republican voters to vote in-person on Election Day. President Donald Trump has attempted to incite fear in his fan base regarding the trustworthiness of mail-in ballots. He has done this despite there being no evidence of significant fraud associated with them. Trump has also encouraged his followers to instead go to the polls themselves.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted in September found that nationwide Trump led by 19 percentage points among those who intended to vote on Election Day, compared to Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s massive advantage among early voters.
For the 19 states that report party registration, over 50 percent of ballots returned have been cast by Democratic voters, compared to the 27.5 percent by Republicans and 22.3 percent by those with no party affiliation, according to the U.S. Elections Project.
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Democratic voters in the key swing state Pennsylvania are far outpacing their Republican counterparts in the number of mail-in ballots that have already been cast in the state with just 10 days until the November 3 election.
As of October 19, just over 9 million people were registered to vote in this year’s election, according to the secretary of state. Among parties, more than 4.2 million Democratic voters and over 3.5 million Republicans are registered. The rest of the voters are either unaffiliated or affiliated with a minor party.
Early Democratic voters
Several recent polls have Biden leading, as his team has increasingly turned its focus on securing the state. Former President Barack Obama campaigned there on Wednesday and encouraged Democratic voters to vote early.
A Muhlenberg College poll had Biden ahead by 7 percentage points, leading Trump 51 to 44 percent. A Fox News poll taken among registered voters between October 17 and 20 had Biden winning by 5 percentage points, receiving 50 percent of voters’ support, compared to the 45 percent who backed Trump.