At least 9 million Texans have already voted in the 2020 election, surpassing the 8.97 million ballots cast in the state in 2016, according to the United States Election Project at the University of Florida.
Election Day is still four days away and the record-breaking numbers are a sign that Americans are passionate about the 2020 presidential race.
It’s not clear who would benefit from the surge, but pollsters have already moved the once red state from ‘leaning Republican’ to ‘toss up’.
This effectively means Texas is now considered a battleground state that can go to either Democrat Joe Biden or Republican Donald Trump.
With 38 electoral votes, Texas has not elected a Democrat since 1976, and a win for Joe Biden there would be a humiliating knockout against Donald Trump, effectively ending the presidential race.
Harris county has seen the highest enthusiasm so far, home to Houston, Texas’ biggest city.
In the battleground state of Florida, more than 81.1 percent of all ballots cast in 2016 are already in as well.
At least 7.8 million people have voted in Florida, a must win state for Donald Trump if he wants to remain a resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, Washington DC, where the White House is located in the nation’s capital.
In the battleground state of North Carolina, more than 4 million people have already voted, representing more than 86 percent of all votes counted in 2016.
Across the United States, more than 83.5 million people have already voted for the 2020 election compared with the 47 million Americans who voted early in 2016, the data show.
While about 138 million Americans voted in total in 2016, it is projected that this time there would be a total of 150 million ballots cast with about 110 million Americans casting their ballots before November 3, 2020.
The ballots cast as of Friday morning represent more than 60 percent of all the votes counted in 2016.
So far, Joe Biden appears to be winning while Donald Trump appears to be losing.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.