More than 60 percent of Democrats plan to vote early, just 28 percent of Republicans: poll

A Gallup poll released Wednesday shows a wide partisan split between Americans who plan to vote early and those who plan to vote on Election Day. 

The poll determined that 62 percent of Democratic and 28 percent of Republican respondents said they intend to vote early in the 2020 election as the coronavirus pandemic continues to shape the race. Among independents, 47 percent said they also plan to vote early. 

Gallup’s poll showed a 34-percentage-point gap between Democrats and Republicans on whether they plan to vote before Election Day, after the past four presidential elections have seen no more than a 2-percentage-point difference between the parties.  

In total, 45 percent of adults surveyed intend to vote early, with 1 percent already having voted by the time they completed the survey. Half of respondents said they intend to vote on Election Day. 

Overall, respondents’ 2020 answers align with the trend of increasing early voting since the 2004 presidential election and decreasing Election Day voting. Early voting has jumped 22 points among Democrats, 18 points among Republicans and 16 points among independents since the 2004 election. 

Out of those who intend to vote early, 60 percent said they will vote absentee, 31 percent will vote in-person and 9 percent are unsure. Out of all respondents, 57 percent plan to vote in-person, 29 percent plan to vote by mail and 8 percent are unsure. 

Gallup suggested the lower percentage of Republicans planning to vote early this year may be because of President Trump’s unfounded claims about mail-in voting leading to fraud. Ninety percent of Republican respondents said they approve of the president’s job performance.

The Gallup poll surveyed 1,023 adults in the U.S. between Sept. 14 and 28. The margin of error amounted to 4 percentage points.