How Many People Have Already Voted In The 2020 Election? Turnout Already Exceeds 2016 In One Key Battleground State

Early voting is breaking records across the country, with more than 85 million Americans having already cast their ballots, according to the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida.

Michael McDonald, the political science professor who administers the project, said as many as 150 million Americans could vote this year. In comparison, 137 million voted in 2016.

In one key battleground state, Texas, turnout has already exceeded the total number of votes cast in 2016. The latest figures show that 9,009,850 Texans have already voted, higher than the 8,969,226 total ballots cast in the previous presidential election.

Texas, with 38 electoral votes, is rated a “toss up” state by the Cook Political Report.

In another key battleground state this cycle, Georgia, early voting has reached 86.9% of 2016 turnout. So far, 3,621,485 Georgians have already voted, with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger predicting 6 million Georgians could cast their ballots in this year’s election.

Georgia, with 16 electoral votes, is also rated a “toss up” by Cook.

Recent polls show Biden with a strong lead over Trump in the general election. Biden has an average 7.8 point nationwide lead over Trump, according to polling aggregator RealClearPolitics.