Democratic voters are increasingly warming to casting their ballots in person rather than by mail, according to Morning Consult polling released this week.
Forty-two percent of Democrats said they plan to vote in person and 55% said they plan to vote by mail, according to the polling taken from Oct. 8-10.
In a survey conducted in late July and early August, 30% of Democrats had said they preferred to vote in person, compared to 65% who said they preferred to vote by mail.
The shift coincides with Democratic leaders now encouraging people to vote “early” - not necessarily by mail - and after a series of reports of delayed or undelivered mail from the U.S. Postal Service.
Among Republicans, 68% said they plan to vote in person and 28% said they plan to vote by mail - the same ratio from over the summer.
Overall, 53% of voters said they plan to vote in person and 41% said they plan to vote by mail.
Over the summer, 46% had said they preferred to vote in person and 48% said they preferred mail voting.
The October survey of about 2,000 registered voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 2%.
Many states have expanded their absentee and vote-by-mail options given the coronavirus pandemic.
Early voting is already underway in a number of states and more than 21 million ballots have been cast, according to a running tally being kept by University of Florida professor Michael McDonald.
