A snapshot of early voting trends showed what could develop into a promising picture for Republicans.
In some states, early voting has just begun.
In North Carolina, more than 350,000 voters cast ballots Thursday during the first day of in-person early voting, according to the North Carolina Board of Elections.
More than 500,000 votes were cast in the first two days of Georgia’s early voting period, according to Semafor.
Virginia has about two weeks of mail-in and early voting, which has allowed NBC to develop some theories about emerging trends.
In the 2020 presidential election, when 63 percent of the state’s votes were cast before Election Day, about 70 percent of voters in Democratic strongholds voted ahead of election day. About 50 percent of voters in GOP-dominated areas did so.
Citing information from voting data vendor TargetSmart, NBC reported that in Democratic areas, early voting has amounted to about 12 percent of the total from 2020.
In Republican areas, early voting has already amounted to 22 percent of the 2020 total.
NBC was hesitant to say that the strong turnout was an indication of Republican success.
Do you plan to vote this year?
Yes: 99% (156 Votes)
No: 1% (2 Votes)
However, the outlet said that it could be a symptom of something serious.
“If we continue to observe turnout lagging in Democratic areas compared with Republican areas after satellite voting begins, it would lead us to do more investigation about whether consistent Democratic voters appear to be less mobilized than normal this election cycle,” NBC wrote.
Wisconsin’s Republican Party is urging voters to use early voting.
“We can’t keep walking into Election Day 100,000-200,000 votes down and expect we’re going to make it up in 13 hours between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.,” state GOP Chairman Brian Schimming said on the party’s website.
Sam DeMarco, who chairs the Republican Party in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, made a similar point, according to The Hill.
“There’s no way that we can give somebody else 50 days to get their vote out and hope to overcome that in 13 hours, and I think some of the races that we’ve had since 2020 have brought that home,” he said.
“Our efforts to Swamp the Vote and Protect the Vote go hand-in-hand,” Republican National Committee representative Anna Kelly said in a statement.
“In order to ensure that Americans feel confident casting their ballot, whether it’s by mail, early in-person, or on Election Day, we must Protect the Vote and ensure commonsense election integrity measures across the country,” she said.
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