Early voting continues at record pace as Election Day draws near
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. (NewsNation Now) — There was no shortage of campaign signs, and no shortage of voters outside Miami-Dade early voting sites Friday.
At the Coral Gables early voting site, campaign signs from both parties overtook most of the grass outside.
“I’m supporting Trump because he promised to keep fighting against socialism and communism,” President Donald Trump supporter Ariel Alvarez said.
Democratic nominee Joe Biden supporters also held signs and gathered.
“I think he has the best policies in terms of immigration and in terms of economic policies,” Maria Melero said about Biden.
In Florida, Democrats lead in early voting has been getting smaller.
As of Friday, about 161,000 more Democrats early voted than Republicans.
But a big chunk of the pie also belongs to people who have no party affiliation.
“This is Florida. I assume it is going to be within a percentage point no matter who the candidates are. It is going to be that close,” Nova Southeastern University political science professor Dr. Charles Zelden said.
Zelden said states that have traditionally not been battleground states could come into play this year.
“There are a lot of states where you can say Biden is going to win. And there are states where you can say Trump is going to win that state. But we are seeing is an expansion of the swing states — of the toss up states — where we really don’t know,” Dr. Zelden said.
One of the states Zelden says is looking more like a swing state is Texas.
Texans have already cast more than nine million ballots, which is more than they did during all of the 2016 race.
Texans don’t register by party affiliation, so it is unclear whether Democrats or Republicans will benefit from the surge.
In Los Angeles, California, more than 750 early voting centers are open across the country, including sporting venues like Dodger Stadium.
More than a third of California voters have already cast ballots.
Votes in Florida are already being processed. But in some other states, they don’t even open mail-in votes until Election Day, which is why the process could go beyond Nov. 3.
