Early voting trends emerge ahead of Election Day

ORINDA, California – Almost 70 million people have already voted in the election, which is more than a third of the total number who voted four years ago.

Several Bay Area counties, including Contra Costa County, are reporting large turnout for early voting.

Voters cast their ballots outside Orinda City Hall Saturday morning.

Josh Witherspoon said he usually votes early to avoid any potential lines on Election Day.

He is among about 6 million Californians who have voted early.

“I think just human decency is probably our biggest,” Witherspoon said as far as his biggest concerns. “We have a daughter and we’re raising our daughter, and I think it’s pretty easy to have a leader who cares more about the country than himself, and I think it’s pretty easy to figure out of that person and who it is.”

“Women’s rights and abortion and funding for public schools,” said Katrina Harrar, who lives in Moraga. “Israel is a big topic.”

“Prices at the gas station, prices at the grocery store, job rates, employment rates, those are pretty important issues to me,” said Neil Pretlow of Orinda.

Although early in-person voting is breaking records in some battleground states like North Carolina and Georgia, early voting turnout isn’t quite as high as it was in 2020 because of the pandemic.

This time, the stakes feel higher, according to many voters we spoke with, including Ruth Levitch of Berkeley.

“We have friends who go out to work, friends who write postcards, everyone feels anxious,” she said. “Definitely committed, but a lot of concern.”

Democrats had a wide advantage over Republicans in early voting four years ago, but that gap is narrowing this time.

This year’s strong turnout has been partly a response to the Trump campaign encouraging early voting.

So far in California, slightly more Republican mail-in voters have returned their ballots compared to Democrats.

“I got my vote in as soon as my ballot came in the mail, just want my opinion out there and heard and spoken. It’s convenient, so that was a big factor for me,” Pretlow said.

This year, women have outnumbered men in early voting, according to early ballots.

In California, the first wave of mail-in voting results will appear on the state’s website shortly after polls close at 8:00 p.m. on November 5.