The
surge in early voting comes amid a stubborn novel coronavirus
pandemic that has led to a surge of early and mail balloting,
particularly among Democrats.
Republican President Donald Trump has sowed confusion and
distrust of mail balloting, making repeated, unfounded
allegations of widespread fraud ahead of his contest with
Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
As of Monday night, nearly 10.4 million Americans have cast a
vote in states that report early voting data, according to the
election information resource at the University of Florida.
By way of comparison, as of Oct. 16, 2016, some 1.4 million
Americans had cast an early vote.
The number of ballots cast in five states - Minnesota, South
Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin - already exceeds 20% of
total 2016 turnout, the Elections Project said.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in New York and Jarrett Renshaw
in Pennsylvania; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Robert Birsel)
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