Over 100 million Americans had already voted before Tuesday, November 3 in what is expected to be on the record, the biggest number ever of Americans who have participated in an election.
In 2016, a record of 137.5 million Americans voted in the election that was won by incumbent President Donald Trump. Observers say that number will be broken this year by the time polls close nationwide on Tuesday.
Trump is seeking reelection for another four years after his surprise win against the former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. But the president faces an uphill task in 2020 especially due to the challenges of managing the coronavirus pandemic as well as his conduct and scandals that have hit the administration.
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The former vice-president and Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, has been favored in recent polls to win in certain battleground states including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona. A Quinnipiac survey, released 24 hours to the election, even has Biden leading in Florida and Ohio, two states that were won by Trump in 2016.
Both Trump and Biden are desperately seeking support from racial minorities who historically vote Democrat. On Monday, Trump even took to Twitter to plead to America’s Hispanic populace in Spanish.
African-Americans, a key voting block that came out at a rate of 56.9% according to a Pew research in 2017, are expected to increase that percentage point in 2020.
