Trump to vote in person in Florida before hitting campaign trails

Washington

US President Donald Trump will vote in person in West Palm Beach, Florida, before holding campaign rallies in the three swing states of North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Last year, Trump shifted his permanent residence and voter registration from New York to Florida, a decisive state for his re-election, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday citing a Reuters report as saying.

In the 2016 presidential election, Trump won Florida, a major swing state, by 49.02 per cent of the votes, while his then Democratic rival Hillary Clinton came in close with 47.82 per cent of the ballots.

According to the latest RealClear Politics polling average, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was currently leading Trump in Florida by 1.4 percentage points or 48.2 per cent to 46.8 per cent.

After voting, the President will hold rallies in the three states, all won by Trump in 2016.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Biden will hold drive-in rallies in Pennsylvania, another battleground state which swung in Trump's favour in 2016 with 48.18 per cent of the votes, while Clinton garnered 47.46 per cent of the total ballots.

Biden's planned rallies will be held in Bucks County north of Philadelphia and Luzerne County near his birthplace of Scranton, according to local media.

According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday, Biden was in the lead with support from 49 per cent of registered voters, while Trump had the backing of 45 per cent, The Hill news agency reported.

In the October 5 Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll, Biden was backed by 50 per cent of the registered voters, while Trump support was unchanged at 45 per cent.

In mid-September, 49 per cent of Pennsylvania respondents backed Biden, while 46 per cent supported Trump.

With just 10 days before the November 3 election, around 53.5 million American citizens have already cast early votes, marking a record pace in more than a century, according to the US Elections Project.

In the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, more Americans are choosing to vote by mail than ever before.