Voters across the United States will head to the polls today to decide who will occupy the White House for the next four years. They’ll also determine which party controls the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and state legislatures nationwide.
This day marks the end of an exhaustive campaign season and is expected to mark the beginning of an exhausting ballot count.
As of early Tuesday, 99.6 million ballots already had been submitted nationwide through in-person early voting and by mail. That figure amounts to 71% of the number of votes cast in the entire 2016 election.
Just hours before Election Day, 35.7 million people had voted in person and 63.9 million had cast ballots by mail, according to the U.S. Elections Project, a nonpartisan website run by University of Florida professor Michael McDonald who tracks county-level data.
Millions more are expected to vote today, making it all but certain that total turnout for 2020 will break the record set in 2016 when nearly 139 million people voted.
The presidential candidates wrapped up their campaigns with rallies in different parts of the country Monday night.
Joe Biden closed his campaign in Pennsylvania, lambasting President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and promising to unite a country in crisis if he wins Tuesday.
President Trump used his final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to make a bold prediction: he’s going to win the state, and he’ll do so easily. The city was also the final stop of the Trump campaign in 2016. Michigan was one of the key swing states that propelled Trump to victory over Hillary Clinton four years ago.
A total of 470 seats in the U.S. Congress are up for election today, including 35 U.S. Senate seats and all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
There are two special elections for U.S. Senate on the ballot in Georgia along with two state constitutional amendments and a statewide referendum. In addition, a number of down-ballot races and local referendums will be decided.
Polls open in Georgia at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m. Voters must vote at their assigned precincts. For precinct information and to review sample ballots, visit mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do.
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