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Who is voting in the 2020 presidential election

Posted at 5:47 AM, Nov 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-02 05:47:30-05

CAPE CORAL, Fla -- With just a day to go until the election, who can we expect to cast their vote for the president? New research is giving us an inside look at what the 2020 electorate looks like across the country, when it comes to factors such as age, ethnicity and party.

Researchers looked at registered voter data and other studies to get an idea of who is voting this election.

When it comes to party identification, around a third of registered voters in the U.S. identify as independents. Most end up leaning toward one of the two major parties. When taking that into account, it showed nearly half of all registered voters either identify as Democrats or lean to the party. 44% identify as Republicans or lean to the GOP.

Data also showed the U.S. electorate is aging. 52% of registered voters are 50 and up.

However, 2020 also marks the first time many members of Generation Z will be able to vote. One-in-ten eligible voters this year are members of Generation Z, up from just 4% the last presidential election.

Early numbers suggest young people could be voting in this election like never before. In Florida, early voting for young people is almost doubled from 2016.

Generation Z and millennials make up 31% of registered voters in the state. A political analyst told our sister station in Tampa that it has to do with youth activism, which gained momentum after the Parkland school shootings.

"The old adage was if you are young, yes you register, but you don’t vote. I think we can toss that one right out of the window,” said Dr. Susan Macmanus.

Non-Hispanic White Americans make up the largest share of registered voters at 69% Hispanic and Black registered voters each account for 11%. Those from other racial or ethnic backgrounds account for the remaining 8%.

The findings also look at things like education and religion. The full break down is here.