Meet the Press
Oct 23 2016, 11:25 am ET
Republican Lead in Two Early Voting States Will Be Tested
by John Lapinski and Hannah Hartig
In 2012, well more than half of all voters in battleground states Florida and North Carolina cast their ballots before Election Day. In Florida, 56 percent of the electorate in the 2012 presidential race voted early and in North Carolina nearly 61 percent did the same. More Democrats than Republicans voted early in 2012 in both of these critical battleground states.
As of October 21st, more Republicans than Democrats have cast ballots in Florida and North Carolina. In Florida, where in-person early voting begins in some counties beginning October 24th, Republicans currently have cast 2 percent more ballots than Democrats. In North Carolina, where in person early voting started on October 20th, Republicans hold a 5 percent advantage in the number of ballots cast according to analysis by the NBC News Data Analytics Lab using voter file data provided by TargetSmart.
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http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/republican-lead-two-early-voting-states-will-be-tested-n671396