First in-person votes cast in US presidential election

Some 69% of votes cast during the 2020 election were done through early in-person voting or through mail-in ballots, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s election data science lab found.

Some in a queue in Fairfax, Virginia, told the BBC they felt it was their civic duty to vote early.

“You never know if you’ll be hit by a bus,” one voter said on Friday, adding that they wanted to be “safe not sorry”. Another said the good weather – and a day working from home – had prompted them to cast their early ballot.

Virginia has been a reliably Democratic state in the last few elections, but some Republicans have been bullish about trying to flip it in November. Voters there will also be casting votes for the state’s eleven members of congress and one of its two senators.

Early and mail-in voting has been a hot-button issue since the 2020 election, with just 37% of Republicans saying people should have the option to vote early, according to polling from the Pew Research Center, external. That sharply contrasts with 82% support from Democrats.