NBC News poll of early voters shows partisan divide

A survey of early voters found Americans are more eager to vote before Election Day than four years ago, but the partisan divide has remained, NBC News reported in a poll.

With just weeks left until Election Day, 5 percent of registered voters have already cast their ballots, 3 percent said they voted by mail and 2 percent said they voted in person, the survey found.

Another 47 percent of respondents said they plan on voting early, bringing the total to 52 percent of Americans voting ahead of the Nov. 5 Election Day.

Forty-four percent say they plan to cast their ballot in person on Election Day.

The results are roughly in line with results from a survey from the 2022 midterms.

Historically, Republicans tend to vote in person on Election Day, while Democrats have opted for mail-in ballots.

After the COVID-19 pandemic changed voting norms and many states enacted mail-in ballot systems, mailed ballots may be more of a mixed bag than ever before, but early trends from the survey show the partisan divide remains strong.

Vice President Harris has a 17-point lead among voters who say they have already voted or plan to cast their ballot before Election Day. She has a lead among those who plan to vote by mail and early in-person voters, NBC noted.

Trump has a 21-point lead among those who say they will vote on Nov. 5.  

The NBC News survey was conducted Oct. 4-8 among 1,000 registered voters and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.