1.9 million Virginians have already voted, just under half the number of total voters from the 2016 election, according to data from The Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP)and the Virginia Department of Elections (VDOE). VPAP also reports 387,191 mail ballot applications that still have to be returned.
The VPAP also predicts that 66 percent of early voters were Democrat, while just 24 percent were Republican. As a result, Virginia Republican officials are expecting a win on what one campaign official called the “Trump game-day vote.” Early voting ends October 31.
“Voters across the Commonwealth are excited to rally behind President Trump and the GOP ticket. On Election Day, voters will make their voices heard when they reject Joe Biden’s socialist vision for America and send President Trump back to the White House to work on behalf of the American people,” Trump campaign spokesperson Samantha Cotten said.
In 2016, 44 percent of Virginians voted for Trump — about 1.7 million people, according to data from the VDOE and election tracker 270 to Win. About 1.9 million voted for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate, suggesting that over a million voters remain who may vote for Trump in the next week.
Although many polls suggest a Trump win is unlikely, the Trump campaign has emphasized that those polls don’t accurately capture their base. In a recent video, John Fredericks, publisher of The Virginia Star and Trump Virginia Campaign Chairman, said, “All the fake polls you’re hearing coming from these different entities, whether it be Christopher Newport University, the Roanoke College, Washington Post, saying that Trump is way behind in Virginia, I’m going to tell you right now, it is absolute fake news. They have made this stuff up to drive a narrative.”
He added, “We’re going to have a big lead on game day.”
Officials have emphasized the ground game in Virginia, including extensive door knocking, new voter registrations, and a Trump rally in Newport News.
“We will have knocked on 750,000 doors by November 3rd. I mean knock on doors, not hang a piece of polybag on somebody’s doorstep. We will have talked to over 325,000 people either at their front porch or in their home,” Fredericks said.
“We will have made over three million voter contacts by November third,” Fredericks said. “That’s almost 70 percent of the entire vote base we’ll have talked to. This is the untold story of Virginia. Nobody wants to talk about it. It’s not going to show up in the polls.”
He concluded, “The Trump campaign in Virginia, it’s alive, it’s well, it’s kicking, it’s tough, we’re going to be very very competitive. You watch us on November 3rd.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Digital Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Virginia Voting” by Fairfax County CC BY-ND 2.0.
