The number of early voters in the U.S. is growing

More than 35 million Americans have already voted early ahead of next Tuesday’s midterm elections for Congress.

Voting rules were changed in many states in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, when Biden defeated Trump, to make early voting easier and to allay the fears of many voters who were afraid to vote in person at the polls in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic.

The trend of increasing early voting continues, and according to the U.S. Elections Project, this year’s total number of voters before Election Day has already surpassed the 2014 and 2018 congressional elections, which took place in the middle of the presidential terms of Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

In the upcoming election, all 435 House seats and 35 of the 100 Senate seats are contested. Democrats have maintained control of both chambers since early 2021, allowing Biden to advance some of his legislative priorities, often with consolidated opposition from Republican lawmakers.

Currently, CNN predicts that Republicans lead in 216 House races, just under the 218 needed to win a majority.

Meanwhile, Democrats have an advantage in 199 races.

It is also reported that in 20, the prediction is difficult because the odds of the contenders are too close to each other.

CNN reported that eight Senate races will determine control of the upper house of Congress.

According to one of America’s leading political polling websites (https://fivethirtyeight.com/), Republicans have a 55 percent chance of winning the Senate and an 84 percent chance of winning the House.

Senator Rick Scott of Florida, speaking on NBC, suggested that Republicans would win at least two seats and thus a majority in the Senate, which begins work in January.

Nevertheless, New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Election Committee, who himself faces an uphill battle for re-election, expressed confidence that Democrats can hold on to control of the House.

“We intend to keep the majority,” he told NBC.