when U.S. registered voters plan to vote have emerged this year that did not exist in prior years. Sixty-two percent of Democratic registered voters plan to vote early or indicate they have already voted, compared with 28% of Republican voters.
The 34-percentage-point partisan gap in early voting intentions compares with gaps of no more than two points in the previous four presidential elections.Before this year, all party groups had shown steady increases in early voting as states expanded these opportunities or moved to all-mail elections.
Between 2004 and 2016, early voting increased by 22 points among Democrats, 18 points among Republicans and 16 points among independents.