US election 2020: Donald Trump joins a record 53 million early voters by casting ballot in Florida

US President Donald Trump dances at the end of a campaign rally

Credit: AFP

President Donald Trump cast his vote in Florida on Saturday, joining a record breaking total of 53 million Americans in casting an early ballot ahead of the November 3 election. 

The president voted in person at West Palm Beach, near his Mar-a-Lago estate, after switching his permanent residence and voter registration last year from New York to Florida, a must-win battleground for his re-election bid.

The election could be on track to see the highest voter turnout in more than a century, according to data from the U.S. Elections Project. With just 10 days to go until the election, Mr Trump is due to hold campaigning rallies in three swing states later on Saturday.

Democratic rival Joe Biden and his wife Jill also will hit the campaign trail, traveling to the vital battleground of Pennsylvania for two events on Saturday. 

Former President Barack Obama will campaign in Florida, making his second campaign-trail appearance on behalf of his former vice president after a stop in Pennsylvania on Wednesday.

The rush to vote seen across the country is a sign of the intense interest in the contest between Mr Trump and Mr Biden.

It is also related to concerns about avoiding crowded polling places on Election Day and reducing the risk of exposure to Covid-19, which has killed more than 224,000 people across the United States.

New daily Covid cases in US

Many states have expanded in-person early voting and mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day, as a safer way to vote during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Trump, who has regularly condemned mail-in voting without evidence as prone to fraud, even though experts say it is as safe as any other method, voted by mail in two elections since he switched his address to Florida, a presidential primary in March and a state election in August.

"I’m here to vote!" he told supporters at a rally in Pensacola on Friday night, one of two he held in the state.

On the campaign trail on Friday, Mr Biden and the president renewed their battle over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Biden said Mr Trump had given up on containing the virus, while the latter accused the former of overstating the health crisis to scare Americans into voting for him.

Opinion polls show Mr Biden leading Mr Trump nationally, but the race is much closer in the crucial battleground states that will decide the election. Mr Trump will head to three of those after voting, holding rallies in North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.