WASHINGTON (AP) — Election Day 2024 arrived Tuesday — and tens of millions of Americans have already cast their ballots. That includes record numbers in Georgia, North Carolina and other battleground states that could determine the winner.
Early turnout in Georgia, which has swung between Republican and Democratic candidates in the previous two presidential elections, was so robust — more than 4 million voters — that a top official in the secretary of state’s office said the big day could be a big one. can seem. “ghost town” at the ballot box.
On Monday, the Associated Press’ national voting tracking showed that roughly 82 million ballots had already been cast — just over half of the total votes cast in the presidential election four years earlier. That’s partly thanks to Republican voters, who cast ballots more quickly than in recent past elections, following a campaign by former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee to counter Democrats’ long-standing advantage in early voting .
Despite long lines in some places and some hiccups common to all elections, in-person and mail-in voting proceeded without major problems.
That includes the parts of western North Carolina that were hit by Hurricane Helene last month. State and local election officials, taking advantage of changes made by the Republican-controlled Legislature, made a huge effort to ensure residents could cast their ballots while dealing with power outages, lack of water and washed away roads.
By the time early voting ended in North Carolina on Saturday, more than 4.4 million voters — or nearly 57% of all registered voters in the state — had cast their ballots. As of Monday, turnout in the 25 western counties affected by the hurricane was even higher: 59% of registered voters, said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the state elections board.
Brinson Bell called voters and election workers in counties hit by the hurricane “an inspiration to all of us.”
Besides the hurricanes in North Carolina and Florida, the most concerning disruptions of the election season so far were arsons that damaged ballots at two drop boxes near the Oregon-Washington border. Authorities there were looking for the person responsible.
The absence of significant, widespread problems has not stopped Trump, the Republican nominee, or the RNC now under his rule, from making numerous claims of fraud or election interference during the early voting period, a possible prelude to post-election challenges elections. Day.
He mischaracterized an ongoing investigation in Pennsylvania into roughly 2,500 potentially fraudulent voter registration applications, saying one of the counties was “caught with 2,600 counterfeit ballots and forms, all written by the same person.” The investigation concerns registration applications; there is no evidence that ballots are involved.
In Georgia, Republicans sought to ban voters from returning mail-in ballots to their local election office before polls close on Election Day, votes allowed under state law. A judge dismissed their lawsuit last weekend.
Trump and Republicans have also warned about the possibility of Democrats recruiting crowds of noncitizens to vote, a claim they made without evidence and that runs counter to data, including from Republican secretaries of state. Research has consistently shown that non-citizens rarely register to vote. Any noncitizen who does so faces the possibility of misdemeanor charges and deportation, which poses a significant barrier.
One instance of non-citizen voting was spotted during early voting last month and resulted in misdemeanor charges after a student from China cast an illegal early vote.
This is the first presidential election since Trump lost to Joe Biden four years ago and began several attempts to overturn the outcome and stay in power. That culminated with the January 6, 2021, violent attack on the US Capitol to halt the certification of the results after Trump told his supporters to “fight like hell.”
Even now, a solid majority of Republicans believe Trump’s lie that Biden was not legitimately elected, despite reviews, audits and recounts in battleground states all confirming Biden’s victory. A survey last month from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that Republicans remain far more skeptical than Democrats that their ballots will be accurately counted this year.
In an effort to restore voter confidence in a system focused on false claims of widespread fraud, Republican lawmakers in more than a dozen states have passed new voting restrictions since 2020. These rules include shortening the period for requesting or returning a ballot, reducing the availability of ballot drop boxes and adding ID requirements.
In the final weekend before Election Day, Trump continued to falsely claim the election was rigged against him and said a presidential winner would have to be declared on election night before all the ballots are counted.
Vice President Kamala Harris urged voters not to fall for Trump’s tactic of casting doubt on the election. The Democratic candidate told supporters at a weekend rally in Michigan that the tactic was intended to suggest to people “that if they vote, their vote doesn’t matter.” Instead, she urged people who had already voted to encourage their friends to do the same.
During four years of election lies and voting-related conspiracy theories, local election officials have faced intimidation and even death threats. This has led to high turnover and increased security at election offices and polling places, including panic buttons and bulletproof glass.
While there have been no major reports of malicious cyber activity targeting election offices, foreign actors have been active in using fake social media profiles and websites to drum up partisan vitriol and disinformation. In recent weeks, U.S. intelligence officials have credited Russia with several fake videos alleging election fraud in presidential swing states.
On the eve of Election Day, they released a joint statement with federal law enforcement agencies warning that Russia in particular was increasing its influence operations, including in ways that could incite violence, and would likely continue these efforts long after the votes were cast. .
Jen Easterly, the nation’s top election security official, urged Americans to rely on state and local election officials for election information.
“This is especially important as we find ourselves in an election cycle with an unprecedented amount of disinformation, including disinformation that is being aggressively spread and amplified by our foreign adversaries on a larger scale than ever before,” she said. “We cannot allow our foreign adversaries to have a voice in our democracy.”
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