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Millions of Americans have already cast their vote
Election Day is less than two weeks away, but 20 million Americans have already voted early. States like Georgia, North Carolina and Texas have already broken early turnout records.
Nearly 3 million Californians have already cast their votes ahead of Election Day.
According to data the Secretary of State's office released Wednesday, 2,856,166 residents cast their votes, with Los Angeles County reporting the largest number of ballots, followed by San Diego and Orange counties.
Of the nine Bay Area counties, Santa Clara County, which is the largest by population, saw the most ballots cast as of Wednesday, with 133,466, followed by 116,040 ballots in Contra Costa County.
Although California is a stronghold for Democrats in presidential elections, several competitive races in the state could affect whether Republicans maintain control of the U.S. House. In addition to the presidential and state Legislature races, voters are also deciding on a U.S. Senate seat and 10 statewide propositions.
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At the top of the ticket, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris — herself a Californian — will compete against Republican former President Donald Trump and look to win the state’s 54 electoral votes. A Republican presidential candidate has not won the state since 1988.
While the state’s congressional delegation is heavily Democratic, it has about half a dozen competitive House races, and in 2022 a victory in one gave the GOP the House majority. This year’s notable races include two Republican incumbents in the agricultural Central Valley, three other Republicans in Southern California and a Democratic open seat. One of the clearest paths for Democrats to reclaim the House is to pick up several GOP seats in friendly states auch as California and New York.
It will likely take days and possibly weeks to know who won in some districts, due to how slowly California counts votes. The extended process begins with a large, initial reporting of votes, which reflects ballots that were cast in advance of Election Day.
Justin Pritchard of the Associated Press contributed to this report.