Biden casts early vote, vows to visit more states in coming days
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[October 31, 2022]
By Andrea Shalal
WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) -U.S. President
Joe Biden cast an early vote in the crucial Nov. 8 midterm elections on
Saturday, joined by his granddaughter Natalie, a first-time voter, and
said he would visit more states in coming days to help Democrats fight
for every possible vote.
Polls suggest Democrats could lose control of both houses of Congress,
with voter discontent over high inflation spoiling the momentum
Democrats had hoped to win from a bitter fight with Republicans over
abortion rights.
"I'm feeling good," Biden told reporters after voting and speaking
briefly with an elderly woman in a wheelchair. He said he had been to 36
constituencies already and would make another visit to the battleground
state of Pennsylvania next week.
He said visits were also planned to New Mexico and California, as well
as Maryland - and his key message would be that voters faced a
fundamental choice that could profoundly change the next decades.
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"I'm going to be spending the rest of this time making the case that
this is not a referendum. It's a choice, a fundamental choice," Biden
said. "It's a choice between two very different visions for the
country."
"Democracy is literally, not figuratively, on the ballot this year,"
Biden told supporters at a $1 million Democratic fundraiser in
Philadelphia on Friday, where he also condemned those who have persisted
in spreading lies that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
Biden repeated his concern about the brutal attack on the husband of
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and said it had likely been fueled by lies
and "malarkey" about the election.
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![](../images/103122PIX/news_l83.jpg)
U.S. President Joe Biden prepares to
cast his vote during early voting for the 2022 U.S. midterm
elections with his granddaughter Natalie, a first-time voter, at a
polling station in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. October 29, 2022.
REUTERS/Tasos Katopodis/Pool
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Oct/31/images/ads/current/hartsburggrain_sda_FFARM_2022.png)
"The talk has to stop. That’s the problem. That’s the problem. You
can’t just say, 'We’re mad about the violence, we condemn it,'
condemn what produces the violence,” Biden said.
Nathan Brand, spokesman for the Republican National Committee,
predicted widespread Republican ballot victories.
"Millions of Americans are casting their ballots against Biden and
Democrats' reckless agenda of crime, rising prices, and open
borders," he said.
Experts say voter turnout - usually far lower in midterm elections
than in presidential ballot years - will be a critical factor in
battleground states, and Democrats are urging voters to cast their
ballots early.
A total of 19,495,342 early votes have been cast nationwide,
according the U.S. Elections Project.
Some 8.3 million voters who turned 18 since the previous general
election in 2020 are eligible to vote in this year's elections,
according to the non-partisan Center for Information and Research on
Civic Learning & Engagement at Tufts University.
The center estimates that 50% of young people aged 18-29 voted in
the 2020 presidential election, an 11% jump from 2016, but turnout
tends to drop off in non-presidential years.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Diane Craft and Nick
Zieminski)
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