Early voting trends emerge ahead of Election Day
ORINDA, Calif. - Nearly 70 million people have already cast ballots in the election, which is more than a third of the total number who voted four years ago.
Several Bay Area counties, including Contra Costa County, are reporting a large turnout for early voting.
Voters dropped off their ballots outside Orinda City Hall Saturday morning.
Josh Witherspoon said he usually votes early to bypass any potential lines on Election Day.
He's among some 6 million Californians who have voted early.
"I think just human decency is probably our biggest," Witherspoon said as far as his top issues of concern. "We have a daughter and raising our daughter and I think having a leader that cares more about the country than themselves and I think sort of figuring out that person and who that is, is pretty easy."
"Women's rights, and abortion, and funding for public schools," said Moraga resident Katrina Harrar. "Israel is a big topic."
"Prices at the gas station, prices at the grocery store, job rates, employment rates, these are pretty important issues for me," said Neil Pretlow of Orinda.
Though early in-person voting is breaking records in some battleground states like North Carolina and Georgia, the early voting turnout is not quite as large as it was in 2020, because of the pandemic.
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Contra Costa County reports long lines of early in-person voters
Contra Costa County was among the Bay Area counties reporting high turnout on Friday for in-person voting ahead of Election Day.
This time around, the stakes feel higher, according to many voters we spoke with, including Ruth Levitch of Berkeley.
"We have friends going out canvassing, friends who are writing postcards, everybody's feeling anxious," she said. "Definitely engaged, but a lot of worry."
Democrats held a wide advantage over Republicans in early voting four years ago, but that gap is narrowing this time around.
This year's strong turnout has partly been in response to the Trump campaign encouraging early voting.
In California, so far, slightly more Republican mail-in voters have returned their ballots, compared with Democrats.
"I got my vote in as soon as my ballot came in the mail, just want my opinion out there and heard and counted. It's convenient, so that was a big factor for me," said Pretlow.
This year, women have outpaced men in early voting, according to early ballot returns.
In California, the first wave of results from vote-by-mail ballots will show up on the state's website, shortly after polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 5.