US President Joe Biden voted early in the midterm elections on Saturday alongside one of his granddaughters, who was also a first-time voter.
Early voting in person began on Friday in Biden’s home state of Delaware, where he frequently spends the weekends. To increase turnout, Democrats around the country have urged voters to use early voting, whether it be by mail-in votes or in person at precincts with availability.
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The midterm elections, which will determine which party controls Congress for the following two years, were going well, according to Biden.
In the final days before the November 8 elections, Biden plans to step up his campaign travels with scheduled trips to Pennsylvania, Florida, New Mexico, and Maryland to stump for Democratic congressional and gubernatorial candidates.
“I’m going to be spending the rest of the time making the case that this is not a referendum. It is a choice. A fundamental choice,” he said. “A choice between two very different visions for the country.”
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Biden voted alongside his granddaughter Natalie, who is 18 years old. He also voted in Delaware last month, when he made a quick, one-day trip for the state’s September 13 primaries.
Delaware has no competitive congressional races this cycle.
At a $1 million Democratic fundraiser in Philadelphia on Friday, Biden declared that “Democracy is literally, not figuratively, on the ballot this year.” He also denounced individuals who have persisted in propagating false information about the 2020 presidential election being rigged.
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Biden reiterated his alarm at the vicious assault on Nancy Pelosi’s husband and claimed that it was probably motivated by “malarkey” and lies about the election.
“The talk has to stop. That’s the problem. That’s the problem. You can’t just say, ‘We’re mad about the violence, we condemn it,’ condemn what produces the violence,” Biden claimed.
Voter turnout, which is often far lower in midterm elections than in presidential election years, is expected to be crucial in battleground states, and Democrats are urging people to vote early.
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According to the U.S. Elections Project, 19,495,342 early votes have been cast nationally.
According to the nonpartisan Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement at Tufts University, 8.3 million voters who turned 18 since the last general election in 2020 are eligible to vote this year.
Although turnout tends to decline in non-presidential years, the centre estimates that 50% of young people aged 18 to 29 voted in the 2020 presidential election, an 11% increase over 2016.