Why SCOTUS let some states count mail-in ballots after Election Day but not others
With just three days until Election Day, pre-election voting has now surpassed two-thirds of all ballots cast during the 2016 presidential election.
More than 91.6 million Americans have voted so far, as a majority of states are reporting record early voting turnout in the 2020 election. While it’s too soon to know how that record turnout will translate to Election Day, the massive early voting numbers suggest a high level of enthusiasm for voting this year, despite the obstacles of a pandemic.
These votes represent about 43% of registered voters nationwide, according to a survey of election officials in all 50 states and Washington, DC, by CNN, Edison Research, and Catalist.
Sixteen states have already seen more than half of their registered voters cast ballots ahead of November 3.
Nationwide, the more than 91.6 million ballots already cast represent about 67% of the more than 136.5 million ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election.
More context: Pre-Election Day voting is surging nationwide — with many states seeing record turnout in early voting in-person and an influx in mail-in ballots compared to last cycle — with voters wanting to avoid crowding at the polls because of the pandemic.
As of Friday, Texas and Hawaii surpassed their total turnouts from the 2016 general election.
