Over 20 mn cast early votes in US midterms polls

More than 20 million people across the US have already cast their ballots for the crucial midterm elections slated to be held on Tuesday.

According to Catalist, a data company that works to compile counts of ballots cast before Election Day, the votes were coming in from seven critical states -- Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Georgia, Texas, Tennesse, Montana, CNN reported on Monday.

In Arizona, Representatives Kyrsten Sinema (Democrat) and Martha McSally (Republican) were vying to become the first female senator to represent the Grand Canyon state.

According to an NBC/Marist poll released last week, Sinema topped McSally by 6 points.

So far, 34 per cent of votes have been cast by Democrats and 43 per cent by Republicans, while independent voters accounted for 18 per cent, with another 8 per cent recorded as "unknown".

In Florida, the Senate race is between Democratic incumbent Senator Bill Nelson and Governor Rick Scott, CNN reported.

Over 3 million votes have been cast ahead of Tuesday's midterms so far, the Catalist data showed, surpassing what was reported at this point in the last polls held in 2014.

Examining the early votes, 40 per cent were cast by Democrats and 42 per cent by Republicans.

CNN's most recent polling showed Nelson was just a two-point lead over Scott.

Republican Senator Dean Heller and Democrat Jacky Rosen are in the fray in Nevada. The state is also home to two House races that were leaning toward Democrats.

CNN polls have Heller and Rosen nearly even, with the latter led by three points.

Nearly 290,000 votes have been cast so far in the Silver State, the data showed, with roughly 40 per cent cast by Democrats and 38 per cent by Republicans.

About 1.3 million ballots have been cast in Georgia so far, and all eyes were on the race for Governor between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp.

In Texas, over 2 million ballots were cast so far in the race between Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Democrat Beto O'Rourke. CNN's latest polling had Cruz ahead by an estimated seven points.

The state is also home to five competitive House races out of its total of 36, and a governor's race where Democrat Lupe Valdez is running to be the first out LGBTQ and Latina Governor.

In Tennessee, Democrat Governor Phil Bredesen is up against Republican Marsha Blackburn. CNN poll has Blackburn leading Bredesen 49 per cent to 45 per cent, while over 1 million early votes cast so far.

In Montana, at least 220,000 votes have been cast early for the race between Democratic Senator Jon Tester and Republican Matt Rosendale.

--IANS

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