'Voters Already Decided'... Over 10 Million Early Votes Cast in the US

Impact of Mail-in Voting... 8 Times More Than 4 Years Ago
Biden Leads in Polls... Obama Campaigns in Support
Trump: "If Biden Wins, China Wins" Desperate Final Push

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Ahead of the U.S. presidential election on the 3rd of next month, it has been revealed that the number of voters who have completed early voting exceeds 10 million. Regardless of the current election issues, this means that there are already that many voters who have chosen the next president, lending weight to interpretations that this is more favorable to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who is leading in the polls.

Candidate Biden is gradually widening the gap in support rates against President Donald Trump, and the support campaign from former President Barack Obama is also expected.

On the 13th (local time), CNBC cited the results of the 'U.S. Election Project,' which investigates U.S. election data, reporting that 10.6 million voters have participated in early voting three weeks before the presidential election. This number is about eight times greater compared to 1.4 million voters who had voted early three weeks before election day in the presidential election four years ago.

On the 13th, as early voting began in Texas, USA, voters lined up in front of the polling stations. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

U.S. media outlets such as CNN reported scenes of voters lining up for early voting in Texas, Georgia, and other states. At early voting sites in Texas, which started on this day, hundreds of people lined up waiting to vote. In Harris County, the most populous county in Texas, 50,000 people had voted by noon.

Georgia, which began early voting a day earlier, showed similar numbers. On the first day of early voting in Georgia, 126,876 people cast their votes. Walter Jones, spokesperson for the Georgia Secretary of State, said, "There is record turnout in early voting due to excitement and enthusiasm for the election," adding, "People have to endure long lines to vote."

The expansion of early voting, including mail-in ballots, indicates that many voters have already decided on their preferred candidate regardless of the final campaigns by the two candidates. It suggests that even if President Trump, who is trailing in the polls, intensifies his on-site campaigns, a last-minute turnaround will be difficult.

The British daily The Guardian reported that in a poll commissioned from the polling specialist Opinium Research, 57% of respondents supported Biden, which is 17 percentage points higher than the 40% support for President Trump. This is an increase from the 16 percentage point gap (Biden 57%, Trump 41%) shown in an earlier CNN poll conducted earlier this month.

The Guardian analyzed this by stating, "President Trump's presidential debates and response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have made the public opinion trend favorable to Biden," adding, "Biden received higher support not only on healthcare and racial issues but also in the economy, which Trump touted as his greatest achievement." However, there are also views that it is difficult to predict the results prematurely.

Michael McDonald, a professor at the University of Florida, explained, "There will be many Republican supporters in in-person voting," and that the enthusiasm for early voting does not necessarily align 100% with the election results.

For a stable victory, Biden will receive support from former President Obama. Biden visited Florida on this day and expressed expectations by saying, "Former President Obama will soon join the campaign."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.