More than 95m Americans already voted before election day

Barely 24 hours before the opening of US elections, more than 95 million Americans have voted in the 2020 presidential election.

According to Meena Bose, the executive dean for public policy and public service programs, Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, this will be the first time in US history that more votes are likely to come in before election day than on the D-day.

In the US, citizens are allowed to vote weeks before the proper election date, which is often the first Tuesday, after the first Monday in November.

The voting plans vary from state to state; 43 states and the seat of power in Washington DC allow for early voting, while about six states and some US territories do not allow for that.

Nine states and Washington DC allow for every registered voter to get a mail and vote and send in the filled ballot via mail.

Bose told foreign journalists covering the US elections that the election night could be a long one depending on when the voting close.

“Seventeen states, including the key states of Florida and Arizona, permit counting to begin before election day, and 16 states permit counting to begin before polls close on election close, while 17 states require counting to begin after polls close on election day,” she said.

The numbers are close to 70 percent of approximately 137 million votes cast in 2016, where incumbent President Donald Trump lost the popular vote but won the electoral college.

Bose said 2020 votes could go as high as 150 million — over 12 million more than the numbers recorded in the Trump-Hillary Clinton election of 2016.

Election winner may be known as early as 11pm on Tuesday night — or later in the week, depending on who gets the necessary states count early enough.