Early voting tops 50M

More than 51 million voters have already cast their ballots, according to a tracker from the University of Florida, with just a week to go until Election Day.

Over 24 million mail ballots have been returned, and nearly 27 million early votes have been cast in-person as of around 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, the UF Election Lab’s data showed.

The latest totals are nearly a third of the 2020 vote count, when more than 154 million Americans turned out to cast their ballots, according to the U.S. Census, as the country grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed many to opt for mail-in voting. At roughly 66 percent turnout, the 2020 presidential cycle marked the highest rate for any national election since 1900, according to Pew Research.

Four years later, Vice President Harris and former President Trump are locked in a razor-tight race for the White House, and separated by fractions of a percentage point in critical battlegrounds where turnout could make all the difference.

While early votes aren't a strong predictor of........

© The Hill