The countdown is almost over and an estimated 74 million Americans have voted early.
According to statista.com, the number of Americans who are registered voters ranged between 137 million and 168 million over the past 20 years, with the last presidential election in 2020 seeing the greatest number of 168.31 registered voters.
What does the early turnout mean this year?
Over four in every 10 American voters have already voted if the number of the last presidential election in 2020 was used as the reference.
The last record spike in early turnouts was reported in 2020 when Americans were urged to vote early to avoid crowding at polling stations during the pandemic. Then, two thirds of voters cast their ballots early.
Still, it is significant that over 74 million Americans have voted before the official election day.
Although Americans have already made up their minds, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris stuck to their itinerary to compete in the same state on the same day over the weekend to appeal to followers to turn out for the election.
Voters' enthusiasm matters in an extremely tight race like this one. The top brass of the Democrats have managed to revive the enthusiasm within its own camp since forcing president Joe Biden to give way to his deputy.
Although counting of the early ballots will not start until after the vote finishes on November 5, media outlets have begun scrambling to outperform one another by commissioning exit polls to predict who is leading.
The country has 50 states and one district. However, all the attention has been focused on seven swing states, namely North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. If all seven are important, Pennsylvania stands out as the most critical because it has more electoral votes than the others.
For example, the Harris-friendly American Broadcasting Company highlighted in its reports that the Democratic Party candidate enjoyed higher popularity by 48 to 47 percent nationally while leading Trump in two of the seven swing states.
In other words, even ABC could see Trump leading in five swing states. Playing up the good news about Harris may help drive more Democratic Party supporters to turn out for Tuesday's vote.
At the same time, betting money streamed in to render Harris a boost against Trump in the pool to narrow the latter's lead. Latest pool figures show Harris is no longer remote despite Trump continuing to be the favorite.
In contrast, the latest findings of fivethirtyeight.com's Atlas Poll conducted on November 1-2 show Trump leads in all seven swing states, though by a thin margin.
It is imprudent to say a trend has emerged in the seven swing states, but it is fair to say the election is tighter than previously thought.
The US election is always extraordinary in a number of aspects. First, voters' identity checks are among the loosest in the world. Second, exit-poll results are updated constantly even as voting is still underway.
It is plausible that the neck-and-neck race for the top office will result in one of the highest turnouts on record in US election history.
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