Quinnipiac: Clinton Leads in Early Voting in Key Swing States

Democrat Hillary Clinton leads Republican Donald Trump among early voters in three important swing states, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

Among early voters only:

North Carolina:

• Clinton: 58 percent
• Trump: 36 percent

Ohio:

• Clinton: 58 percent
• Trump: 32 percent

Florida:

• Clinton: 48 percent
• Trump: 42 percent

North Carolina has 15 electoral votes, Ohio 18 and Florida 29.

The overall polls that include people who have not yet cast their ballots are much closer, with Trump gaining ground in recent days in most states. Still, the early vote numbers may bode ill for Trump, according to University of Massachusetts-Amherst political scientists Brian Schaffner and Anthony Rentsch in The Washington Post.

"None of this is to say that the early vote is more useful than other sources of information, such as polling or even the simple balance of party registration in a state," the wrote. "But in some battleground states, the early vote is closely related to the eventual outcome. Taken together with the polls, the numbers this year do indeed bode well for Clinton."

• Quinnipiac Poll: Clinton Ahead in Pennsylvania, Trump Up in Ohio
• CNN/ORC Poll: Clinton, Trump in Tight Race in Battleground States