By Christen Smith | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – One day after voter registration closed in Pennsylvania, more than 1 million ballots have already been cast.
Residents have returned 1,051,655 mail-in votes as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Department of State, representing more than half of the 1.8 million requested ahead of the Oct. 29 deadline.
More than 9 million in Pennsylvania are registered to vote.
Democratic ballots returned a total of 649,060, with 40% more outstanding, compared to Republicans’ 300,862, with just under 57% unreturned. Unaffiliated voters account for an additional 101,733, with about 66% yet to be cast.
Although Democrats historically vote by mail in higher numbers, their overall registration advantage has dwindled over the last four years. While the Grand Old Party gained more than 428,000 of its 3.7 million voters since 2020, Democrats lost 257,000 and dropped to just under 4 million – shrinking their lead to less than 300,000.
Independent voters total 1.4 million, and winning their support would make or break the arguably most pivotal swing state in the general election.
The race for the White House is equally tight. RealClear Polling averages show former President Donald Trump besting Vice President Kamala Harris by 0.8% as of Saturday.
The razor-thin margin comes after the Republican nominee won seven of the last 10 polls conducted since Sept. 28. The spread between the candidates has ranged as high as 3% on both sides, all within the margin of error.
Nationally, Harris leads Trump by 0.8% and trails him in all seven swing states by an average of 1.2%.