Overall, 39% of Americans registered to vote said they will cast their vote by mail, well above the 21% who said they normally vote that way, according to a new poll from the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Public Affairs Investigation) and The Associated Press. The increase is skewed toward the former vice president's supporters, 53% of whom plan to vote by mail. Among Trump supporters, 57% said they will vote in person on November 3.

54% of voters reported voting before polling places open on Election Day. In 2016, just 42% did.

For months, Trump has denigrated voting by mail and Democrats have raised concerns about delays in mail service that could prevent ballots from counting. The survey found a declining enthusiasm for voting by mail: just 28% of Americans said they would agree to have their state conduct elections exclusively by mail, less than 40% who said so in April as the coronavirus pandemic spread through the first time in America and before Trump launched his campaign against vote by mail.

Support in states that allow people to vote by mail without requiring justification is higher, but also lower than in April, from 47% now to 56% months ago.

Sherry Santiago, 55, of Palm Bay, Florida, is disabled and unable to drive. The Democrat said she nearly lost her chance to vote in 2016 because she couldn't get a ride to the polling place. She noted that she is happy to vote by mail this year.

"I don't want to risk losing them," Santiago said of the elections. “I have complete confidence in voting by mail. I'm not worried that there is a problem ”.

But Republican Michelle Harman, 44, who works in the oil industry in Artesia, New Mexico, plans to vote in person on Election Day.

"This year more than ever, there is little defined ground on what could happen to your vote," Harman said. He added that he did not question voting by mail in 2016 when he was out of town.

Traditionally, voting by mail has not been a partisan issue. Until recently, Republicans were more likely to do so than Democrats, because older voters are more likely to vote by mail than younger voters.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended voting by mail a few months ago as an alternative to avoid interactions at the polls, which could pose a risk of contracting the coronavirus. States have struggled to adjust to the projected increase leading up to the election, with nearly more than 30 states changing their voting-by-mail rules in response to the pandemic.

Since then, President Trump has tried to stoke skepticism around postal voting, stating without evidence that its widespread use will lead to fraudulent maneuvers. Trump warned that voting by mail could lead so many people to vote that "never again would a Republican be elected in this country." On Thursday, he condemned a 10-state plan to actively send vote-by-mail ballots to registered individuals, stating without offering proof that it means the outcome of the November election would not be accurately determined.

Studies of past elections have shown that electoral fraud is highly unusual. In five states that generally send ballots to all voters, there have been no major cases of fraud or difficulties in counting votes.