At Least 4 States Exceeded 2016 Voter Turnout Ahead of Election Day

Texas, Washington, Hawaii, and Montana have all surpassed their 2016 general election voter turnout ahead of Election Day, The Hill reports.

According to the U.S. Elections Project, those four states have attracted more voters this election cycle with several other states not far behind. 

In Texas, more than 9.7 million ballots were cast ahead of Tuesday, which is 8.3% more than four years ago. Over 3.5 million people cast their vote in Washington, which totals 5.4% more than the state's 2016 count. Hawaii logged a 10.6% increase with about 484,000 ballots cast before Tuesday. Montana saw a 2.4% jump from 2016 with 529,000 votes so far.

Several other states are close to breaking their 2016 turnout numbers. Eight states, including Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina, passed 90% of their total 2016 general election turnout, according to the U.S. Elections Project report.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many voters cast mail-in ballots or voted early to avoid waiting in crowded polling places on Election Day.

Total, over 99.6 million people voted, which is 72.3% of all votes cast in 2016.

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