More than 62 million Americans have cast early ballots ahead of Election Day

​​​​​​​By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – More than 62 million Americans have cast early ballots with five days to go until Election Day, according to data published Thursday.

The figures from the University of Florida's Election Lab tracker shows 62,725,685 people have voted either by mail or in-person at polling stations. Unlike 2020, when the US was in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, more voters chose to vote in-person than by mail this presidential election cycle.

About 900,000 more Democrats than Republicans -- 11,929,062 to 11,076,601 -- have voted early.

With the Nov. 5 election less than one week away, polling indicates that Vice President Kamala Harris, and her Republican challenger, Donald Trump, are locked in a dead heat, particularly in the seven critical battleground states.

Harris is narrowly ahead in Wisconsin and Michigan by 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively, according to a compilation of polling compiled by the RealClearPolitics website. Trump continues to lead in Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.

His lead is at or under 1%, however, in Nevada, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Trump holds a relatively larger advantage in Arizona (+2.4%), and Georgia (+2.7%).

Battleground states are pivotal because the US does not directly elect its presidents. Instead, the process plays out via the Electoral College where 538 representatives cast their ballots in line with their states’ outcomes.

Either candidate needs to secure 270 Electoral College votes to claim victory. Electors are allocated to states based on their population, and most states give all of their electors to whichever candidate wins the state in the general vote.

The winner-take-all model is not followed in Nebraska and Maine, however, which instead allocate their votes proportionally based on their outcomes.