US early voting tops 70 million

NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters/AP): More than 70 million Americans have cast ballots in the US presidential election, more than half the total turnout of the 2016 election with one week to go until Election Day, according to a Tuesday tally from the US Elections Project.

The tally, which shows a record-breaking pace that could lead to the highest voter turnout in percentage terms in more than a century, is the latest sign of intense interest in the contest between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

It also highlights voters' desire to reduce their risk of exposure to COVID-19 as the pandemic regathers strength heading into winter.

Democrats hold a significant advantage in early voting due to their embrace of mail balloting, which Republicans have historically cast in large numbers but have shunned amid repeated and unfounded attacks by Trump, who says the system is prone to widespread fraud.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden traveled Tuesday to the hot springs town where Franklin Delano Roosevelt coped with polio to declare the U.S. is not too politically diseased to overcome its health and economic crises, pledging to be the unifying force who can "restore our soul and save this country."

The Democratic presidential nominee offered his closing argument with Election Day just one week away while attempting to go on the political offensive in Georgia, which hasn't backed a Democrat for the White House since 1992.

He promised to be a president for all Americans regardless of party, even as he said that "anger and suspicion is growing and our wounds are getting deeper."

Trump also cheered Senate candidate John James - who may ultimately have a better chance of winning the state than the president - while attacking Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for moving aggressively to shut down much of the state's economy to slow the virus' spread.

He even seemed to cast doubt on federal authorities breaking up what they said was a plot to kidnap her, which Whitmer has argued Trump's "violent rhetoric" helped spark.