Bhubaneswar: America has a solution to the poll booth rush in India. The low turnout in urban areas in India has been attributed to many avoid the polling booths to give a miss to the crawling lines in front of polling booths across the states, especialy when elections were held in the red hot summer.
But America has come up with a solution – Early voting – both in person, and mail voting. And Americans voters seem latching it up with glee and not waiting for the D-day to cast their vote.
The data released by University of Florida, Election lab, shows that as on November 3, a whopping 78 million have casted their ballots. In 2020, which was the pandemic year, the early voting at this point of time was 81 mn. The big difference here is 2020 was the pandemic year, when people decided to avoid vote centres to avoid people to people contact, especially when Covid wave had a marauder run in USA.
The data shows the early voters count in 2024 is already 47 percent the total number of votes cast in the 2020 presidential election. The early voting percentage in 2024 is significantly higher than in 2016 or any previous election year.
EARLY VOTE NUMBERS (as on Nov 3, 2024)
* Total Early Votes: 78,003,222 •
* In-Person Early Votes: 42,654,364 •
* Mail Ballots Returned: 35,348,858 •
* Mail Ballots Requested: 67,456,847
The above data shows that a whopping 6.7 cr or 67 million have requested mail ballots as on Nov 3, 2024. Therefore the number will cross 1450 million soon.
Unlike in India, where voting takes place after 48 hrs silence period, in USA, voters can vote even if the campaigning is on.
WOMEN VOTERS ON FORE FRONT
The latest data on early voter turnout released shows women voters are voting in big numbers in the 2024 US president elections. As on Nov 3, 2024, over 88 lakh women have availed the facility of early voting in US elections. In percentage terms, women voters constitute 54% of the total electorate turned up for the US elections in the Early Voting facility.
In comparison, the turnout of male in this US election so far stands at mere 43.6%.
WHO IS VOTING BIG: YOUTH OR ELDERLY?
A look at the Election lab data shows the following .
* 41-65 years – 39.1%
* Over 65 years – 36%
* 26-40 years – 16.7%
* 18-25 – 8.2%
Did the turnout hint at who is gaining ground? A glance at the survey released by Phew Research shows the following (see the image).
EARLY VOTER TURNOUT BY RACE
Here are the data released by University of Florida Election Lab.
* Non-Hispanic white – 64.2%
* Non-Hispanic Black – 22.2%
* Hispanic – 2.7%
* Non-Hispanic Asian American – 1.9%
* Non-Hispanic native Americans – 0.5%
* Others – 8.5%
Does the race wise turnout indicate any big hint? Take a look at the survey done by Phew research.
EARLY VOTERS: RURAL OR URBAN
As per the data, the turnout recorded in early voting in the battle ground states in 2024 saw 38% are rural voters as against 23% urban. In 2020, the proportion was 32% and 29% at this point of time. As per PBS news, more rural voters turnout favour Trump than Harris.
WHAT IS EARLY VOTING?
In 2024, 47 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands offer early in-person voting to all voters (this includes states with all-mail elections). Three states—Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire—do not offer early in-person voting, though they may provide options for eligible absentee voters.
Additionally, eight states and Washington, D.C., run elections primarily by mail, though all retain some early in-person voting options for voters who need or prefer it.
Early in-person voting periods vary by state:
* Length: Early voting periods range in length from three to 46 days; the average is 20 days.
* Start date: Early in-person voting may begin as early as 50 days before the election, or as late as the Friday before the election. The average start date is 27 days before the election.
* End date: Early voting typically ends just a few days before Election Day.
* Weekend early voting: Of the states that allow early in-person voting (excluding the states that run elections primarily by mail), 27 allow some weekend early voting.
* Saturday: 22 states offer voting on Saturday. Seven other states (California, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota and Vermont) allow local election officials to decide whether to offer Saturday voting.
* Sunday: Nine states (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Ohio) allow for Sunday voting. Eight states (California, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Utah) allow local election officials to offer Sunday voting.
Florida mandates that early voting must begin 10 days before the election, including Sundays, and end on the third day before the election for state and federal elections. Local election officials have the discretion to allow early voting on the Sunday before the election.
DOES INDIA NEEDS EARLY VOTING FACILITY?
The low turnout in urban areas in India and encouraging turnout in US 2024 elections indicates that the time has come for introducing such facility in India.
