Early Voting Surge Eclipses 2014 Numbers, Turnout In Texas, Nevada, & Arizona Top Totals From Last Midterms
It’s finally Election Day for the 2018 Midterms and reports around the country indicate that there are massive numbers of people heading to the polls. Early voting numbers are out and while totals were looking impressive in many states over the past week or two, a final surge has led to some monster results.
As the Inquisitr recently detailed, 24 million people had cast early votes for these 2018 Midterms with almost a week to go before Election Day. That total was significantly higher than what was seen in 2014, and overall, Republicans had a two-point lead over Democrats in early votes cast.
The United States Elections Project tracks the early voting totals and as of Tuesday, they report that 38.4 million ballots were cast for these 2018 Midterms. According to Politico, data shows that the states of Arizona, Nevada, and Texas have already surpassed the total number of votes they had cast during the entire 2014 Midterms.
Many experts expect that by the time all of the votes are counted, nearly every state will show higher vote totals than what constituents cast in 2014. These early vote surges can, however, throw off predictions as experts grapple with how to account for them in their algorithms.
Early voting records were shattered with 38 million people voting early, according to the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida. https://t.co/8VJPm7iHvy pic.twitter.com/E06JB1bDcl
— NPR (@NPR) November 6, 2018
Early voting totals can be exciting and they may well predict that there will be high voter turnout on Election Day, as well. The Intelligencer notes that there’s only so much that can be presumed about early totals and a lot that isn’t known, especially in terms of exactly who will show up on Election Day or how those who voted early truly cast their votes.
If indeed high early voting totals signify high voter turnout on Tuesday, that will probably be good news for the Democrats. People are keeping an especially close eye on first-time voters, young voters and votes by people of color, as those groups could significantly impact the results if they show up at the polls.
A lot of analysis will be done once all of the numbers for these 2018 Midterms are tallied. Do the early votes signal high turnout on Election Day or do they tend to cannibalize Tuesday’s totals versus enhance them? How big will the turnout be on Tuesday? Will there be a “Blue Wave,” a “Red Wave,” or a fairly balanced set of results that ultimately keeps things essentially how they’ve been?
The predictions among the experts signal that there may be good news ahead for Democrats when it comes to the House, but they have a much tougher path to victory in the Senate. People are keeping a close eye on numerous gubernatorial races across the country too, and it should be an exciting night as people watch to see how the overall vote totals fall into place.
