——— Polls show Democrat, Republican running neck-and-neck
——— Harris’s campaign has encouraged early voting
——— Tim Walz, Joe Biden, Barack Obama have cast their ballots
DM Monitoring
WASHINGTON: More than 62 million US voters have already cast their ballots in the 2024 election, breaking records in some states and leading both sides to hope it gives them an edge — even as experts warn the data is difficult to interpret.
Opinion polls show Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump running neck-and-neck, including in the seven battleground states likely to decide the national vote.
Harris’s campaign has encouraged early voting, with her running mate Tim Walz, outgoing President Joe Biden, and former president Barack Obama all having already cast their ballots.
Trump had earlier cast skepticism — without proof — over the fairness of early voting, but has since embraced it, encouraging his supporters to cast ballots whenever suits them.
As of Thursday, at least 62.7 million people had cast votes early, accounting for almost 40% of the total vote count in 2020.
In Georgia, for example, more than 3.5 million people had voted, or 45% of registered voters — a record, according to Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
He added that he expected up to 70% of Georgians to vote early in this election.
The situation is similar in several other swing states.
Brad Hines, a 73-year-old police officer, lined up to cast his ballot in-person on the first day of early voting in Wisconsin.
“I wanted to get in and get my vote done and then let everybody else know that they should do the same thing,” he said, adding that it was an “important election” for the state of “democracy.”
Earlier, The upcoming US Presidential Election 2024 has drawn mixed reactions from the Pakistani business community, Muslim voters, and local Pakistani-American politicians.
Traditionally, the Muslim community has shown limited participation in the voting process, and this time, due to the Middle East crisis, even greater hesitancy is evident.
Many Muslim voters are protesting by choosing not to vote, feeling that the policies of both major parties’ presidential candidates fall short of addressing Muslim rights.
While the presence of Muslim candidates in local elections has encouraged some voters to participate, the enthusiasm seen in previous presidential elections is noticeably absent.
Many Muslim voters are supporting local candidates based on personal relationships and friendships but feel uncertain and mistrustful regarding the presidential candidates.
Some are arriving at polling stations but struggle to decide whom to vote for in the presidential race.
This general sense of confusion and apathy has created a challenging environment for Muslim candidates as well, who are actively trying to mobilise voters yet find it difficult to achieve significant success due to the community’s overall lack of interest.
This situation presents a serious challenge for the Muslim community in the US, highlighting the need for voters to recognise the power of their vote and cast ballots in line with their priorities.
