Nearly 82 million voted early in the 2024 US election—here’s what it means

US elections 2024: The official election day in the US is set for Tuesday (Nov 5), but millions of Americans have already cast their ballots, both by mail and in person, by availing the early voting option.

As of Monday, the Associated Press reported that around 82 million ballots had been cast early nationwide, with similar figures confirmed by the University of Florida's Election Lab.

The first surge in early voting was seen during the 2020 presidential election, when a massive turnout helped Joe Biden secure victory. However, the 2024 number easily topped the previous early voting record of more than 3.6 million ballots cast in 2020.

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The strength of early voting in this election will be important for the campaigns of both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Most early voters are Republicans, data shows

During the 2020 presidential elections, Republicans made up 30.5 per cent of the total early votes cast in the 20 states that track party registration, versus 44.8 per cent for Democrats. But this weightage seems to slightly change this election season.

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Republican voters represent 36.1 per cent of early votes cast across the country this year, while Democrats represent 38.9 per cent. The remaining quarter has come from voters not affiliated with any party or who have registered with a third party.

This might help Donald Trump to take an early lead in the polls.

More women early voters than men

In the six states that report gender data, including the battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, and North Carolina, women have cast54.2 per cent of the early ballots so far. This percentage is a few points higher than the 2020 mark, as per polls research conducted by Edison Research.

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Some recent surveys show that women are backing Democrats by a historically large margin, which could help boost Vice President Harris’ percentage.

Other trends

Among the key states, in Georgia, more than 50 per cent of eligible voters have now cast ballots. The early turnout there is slightly older and whiter than the early voting 2020 electorate, which could help Trump. In Pennsylvania, the contest looks tight.

Another new trend this year is the increase in early in-person voting, unlike four years ago when mail-in ballots accounted for almost two-thirds of the early vote due to the pandemic. This year, there’s a clear split between mail-in and early in-person voting, with in-person ballots accounting for 54 per cent of all early votes as of Sunday morning, as per NBC news.

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The pandemic-era 2020 election had the highest-ever early vote totals, at more than 101 million, or 63 per cent of all votes cast. But besides 2020, the share of early votes has remained steady since 2012, even as early vote totals have increased. In 2012 and 2016, early votes were about 36 per cent of all votes.

The record early voting this year could also be the result of more states offering the option for people to cast their ballot. In 2000, less than half the states had early voting and as of 2024, only three states—Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire—don't offer in-person early voting.

(With inputs from agencies)