2020 early voting exceeds 2016's before the elections

This is how early voting goes in Florida 2:20

(CNN) -

Early voting for the November elections has surpassed all early voting cast in 2016 to 8 days to Election Day.

More than 60 million Americans have voted so far, according to a poll of election officials in all 50 states and Washington by CNN, Edison Research and Catalist.

33 states, including a dozen of CNN's most competitive ranked states, have surpassed their 2016 electoral totals, data shows.

In 2016, about 58.3 million pre-election ballots were cast, including ballots in all three vote-by-mail states that year, according to an analysis by CNN.

That early voting represented roughly 42% of all ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election.

Early voting is skyrocketing across the country amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with states reporting record turnout as voters dare to vote by mail or in person before November.

Detailed voter information comes from Catalist, a company that provides data, analytics and other services to Democrats, academics, and nonprofits that advocate on issues of concern, and provides information on who votes before November.

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54% of those 58.7 million votes already cast in the 2020 election cycle come from CNN's 16 highest-ranked states, which will play a crucial role in determining who wins the presidency this year.

• Early voting numbers are breaking records.

  This is what we still don't know

Early voting leaves long lines in Texas and Georgia 4:06

Among those states, Minnesota has currently seen the largest percentage increase in early voting turnout compared to the previous cycle, based on Catalist data from both years in 14 key states.

By age, younger voters (ages 18-29) are also casting significantly more votes and represent a higher proportion of votes leading up to Election Day than at the same time four years ago in all key states with available information.

In all 14 of these key states, voters under 30 have seen spikes in their early voting turnout compared to this point in 2016.

Voters 30 and older still make up the vast majority of those who will deposit their ballot early, but their turnout has dropped slightly from four years ago.

Older voters, those 65 and older, have seen the largest decline in their turnout in early voting.

Overall, the top three states that have seen the biggest increases in early voting turnout so far expanded access to mail or early voting this year.

New Jersey, which has seen the largest increase with more than nine times more ballots cast this year than in 2016 at this time, mailed ballots to all eligible voters in the state for the 2020 election. Delaware, which has had more than seven times more votes cast than right now four years ago, and Virginia, which has seen more than six times as many, is allowing any voter to vote by mail.

Here's a look at the skyrocketing turnout in several key states where President Donald Trump won by the narrowest margin in 2016.

• Early voting leads to long lines in Texas and hours of waiting in Georgia

Early Voting in Florida

Trump already voted 3:42

Trump won Florida by just over one percentage point in 2016 and recapturing the sunshine state this year is critical to his re-election prospects.

While Florida Democrats maintain an advantage in pre-election turnout, data from Catalist shows that the gap narrows as more voters participate in early voting statewide.

Democrats now account for 43% of those first votes, while Republicans account for 36%.

At this point in 2016, Republicans had a roughly one point lead in pre-election turnout.

This high turnout among Florida Democrats is reflected in a recent survey of voter behavior in the Sunshine State.

A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows that approximately 35% of likely voters in Florida say they have already cast their vote.

Of that group, 71% say they back former Vice President Joe Biden and 27% back Trump.

56% of those who have yet to cast their vote say they back Trump, and 40% say they back Biden.

However, this does not predict the bottom line, as polls show that Democrats across the country are more likely to cast their votes before Election Day than Republicans.

North Carolina

North Carolina Democrats are also outpacing Republicans in their pre-election vote percentage, but once again, that margin is shrinking amid an increase in early voting in the state of Tar Heel.

About 40% of the first votes Catalist has analyzed come from Democrats compared to 30% from Republicans so far.

This is similar to the partisan breakdown of pre-election votes at this point in 2016.

However, Republicans have narrowed the gap in their turnout in early voting in recent weeks.

Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, a key state that Trump won by less than a percentage point in 2016, Democrats continue to have a significant advantage over Republicans in the proportion of votes already cast, according to data from the catalyst party.

So far, about 70% of pre-election votes have come from Democrats, compared to roughly 20% from Republicans.

3 key states give Biden an advantage in voting intentions 0:50

Michigan

Michigan's 16 electoral votes helped make Trump president four years ago when the state snapped its six-election streak of voting for the Democratic presidential candidate.

Wolverine's state turnout this century peaked in 2008 with more than 5 million votes cast for president.

A 2018 ballot measure changed Michigan's rules to allow anyone to vote by mail without an excuse, and this year's ballots are more than triple what they were right now four years ago, according to data from Catalist.

A look at those results by race shows that black voter ballots account for 12% of the current vote, up from 8% at this time in the 2016 cycle. Democrats hope to increase turnout among black voters in areas like Detroit on his quest to bring Michigan back to the blue column.

Arizona

Democrats looking to expand the electoral map are focusing heavily on Arizona's 11 electoral votes.

The Biden campaign alone has already spent $ 14 million more on advertising than the Trump campaign, according to CMAG.

Democrats now lead Republicans in their percentage of votes cast so far, 42% to 34% respectively.

Right now, four years ago, 41% of the votes cast by Republicans at the time exceeded the 38% cast by Democrats, according to data from Catalist.

While this is good news for Democrats, just under a third of the registered voters in the Grand Canyon State have no party affiliation, leaving plenty of room on both sides to drive the vote in the final days of the campaign. .

Early voting