An estimated 9 million voters requested mail-in ballots as of Monday with Democrats far outweighing their Republican counterparts. In their reporting, The Washington Post identified mail-in voters as 52 percent Democrats, 28 percent Republicans and 20 percent unaffiliated.
The entities involved in this initial roll-call were five battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maine, and Iowa where public data collection was possible. Additional internal data obtained by The Washington Post shows a similar trend emerging in Ohio, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin.
An early surge of Democratic mail-in voting is sparking concern for Republicans. In prior elections, Democrats proved more likely to return their ballots earlier then Republicans, who have a history of waiting until election day to cast their votes. In any other election cycle this might not be as large of an issue as it is currently. But we're not in any other election cycle. We're in a COVID election cycle - and, as with most everything these days being done virtually, paper ballots are on the efficiency shortlist.
America also has an incumbent president who repeatedly falsely claims that mail-in voting leads to fraudulent activity and disqualification in the election process. The frivolous attempt by President Donald J. Trump to undermine the U.S. Constitution seems to resonate strongly with those in his party. He holds a rally claiming mail-in voting is a "scam" and his base believes him - so he holds another one. The saga continues.
Still, Democrats are not in the clear. Mail-in ballots are traditionally disqualified at a higher rate than votes cast in person because of compliance issues. One skipped signature on an envelope placed incorrectly in the mail and disqualification is imminent. If Democrats are able to slow down, read the instructions, complete accordingly, and get the ballots in the mail early, they might be able to claim victory on or around Nov. 3, 2020.
