Elections

Republican Party Is Outperforming 2012 Early Voting Figures In Key States

REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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The Republican Party is outperforming 2012 in early voting and absentee ballot returns and is leading Democrats in several key states and counties, according to figures provided to reporters Tuesday by the RNC’s director of early and absentee voting Bill Dunn.

In Arizona, Republicans lead Democrats by over 100,000 absentee ballots returned, and in ballots requested by 36.5 percent of total ballots requested.

The GOP in Colorado lead in ballots cast 775,000 to 756,000. In multiple swing counties, Republicans are also outperforming their share of the vote. In Larimer County, Republican make up 31 percent of voters and 35 percent of all ballots cast to date have come from Republican voters.

Dunn also said that ballots returned from Republican voters have increased in traditionally Colorado GOP strongholds.

In Florida, Republicans trail by 78,000 fewer ballots cast than in 2012. Romney lost Florida to President Obama by 74,309 votes. Hispanic turnout is up in Florida, but Dunn isn’t worried about that and instead attributed it to there being more Hispanics in the voter file.

Republicans have turned in 2.25 percent more total ballots in Iowa than they did 2012. In Michigan, a traditionally Democrat state the Trump campaign is trying to flip, Dunn said there is a spike in counties that supported Romney in 2012.

In Kent County, the largest county to support Romney in 2012, 56 percent more ballots have been returned than in 2012. Republicans have increased the amount of early ballots and absentee ballots returned by 115,000 more than 2012. On the other hand, Democrats have cast 25,000 fewer ballots than they did in 2012.

In Ohio, Dunn pointed towards a drop off in ballots cast in key counties that supported President Obama in 2012. In Cuyahoga County, home to Cleveland, there have been 55,000 fewer ballots cast than 2012.