Democrats take edge on mail-in ballots in key midterm races

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe one-sentence version: Democrats are ahead in early and mail voting, and Republicans plan to catch up on Election Day.

2. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSo Democrats win! Can we just call it and go home?

3. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNo. Early votes are not the final count.

4. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThey're one part of it, and the New York Post says Republicans will try to beat it back in person.

5. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorOkay, so what are the actual numbers?

6. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorCNN reports registered Democrats outvoted registered Republicans by nearly twenty-eight points on a recent Thursday in North Carolina early voting.

7. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorCompared with the first day of early voting in twenty twenty-four, seventy-three percent of registered Democrats turned out, and thirty-two percent of registered Republicans.

8. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSeventy-three! That's a turnout you'd see at a church potluck.

9. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorHow did we get here? Democrats have leaned on early and mail ballots lately.

10. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIn Pennsylvania, sixty-six percent of ballot requests are from Democrats, up from sixty-two.

11. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorAnd North Carolina?

12. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorForty-two percent of requests from Democrats, up from thirty-six two years ago, CNN says.

13. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWho does this affect? Basically everybody with a mailbox, right?

14. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorVoters, and the campaigns reading the tea leaves.

15. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorOne tally counts six point two million early votes so far, and among states that record party, fifty-one point one percent are Democratic.

16. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorTwenty-eight point seven for Republicans. That's a gap!

17. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIt is. And NBC reports a Marist poll where Democrats' confidence in on-time mail delivery fell from eighty-six percent to sixty.

18. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSixty? They don't trust the mail but they're mailing it anyway?

19. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSome may be voting early for that reason. Republican confidence is unchanged, same poll.

20. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSo what do the two sides say?

21. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorDemocrats read the numbers as momentum. Republicans say the vote is not over until Election Day.

22. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorEmerson's September poll had Democrats up fifty-three to forty-two on the generic ballot.

23. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWhat should we watch for next?

24. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorHow many Republicans show up in person, and whether the mail arrives.

25. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorEarly votes are halftime, and nobody has said how long the second half runs.

26. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSo the lead is real, the finish line is not, and the mailbox is the one thing both sides are nervous about.