Storms are blowing with heavy rain from eastern Texas to the Missouri and Illinois borders.
While the rain will continue to slowly shift eastward, what has already fallen may impact voters trying to get out of their homes and vote early in the morning.
The wave will continue to head east, bringing rain to Minnesota, andSwing states wisconsin andMichigan South to Louisiana.
This may not seem important or influential in the elections, but experts believe that precipitation Rain Voting day can slightly reduce turnout at the polls, and this may be influential in close elections, such as the contest between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
According to CNN, it was noted that rainfall slightly reduced voter turnout in the previous elections.
It is noteworthy that the state wisconsin It will witness the worst weather among the swing states, as heavy rain may fall accompanied by thunderstorms, and scattered wind gusts approaching 100 kilometers per hour.
The heaviest rain will fall from eastern Texas to southern Indiana.
How can weather affect elections?
- For decades, the weather has been a part of the media’s attention American elections.
- Scientists have analyzed data linking voter turnout to weather over decades and shown that weather conditions can indeed affect voter turnout, but only slightly.
- With elections as close as in 2024, bad weather in one or two battleground states could affect the outcome, by keeping some voters at home.
- Kasper Hansen, professor of political science at the University of Copenhagen, conducted a study in 2023 about… the weather Voting percentage in elections.
- In this study, it was found that so-called “marginal voters,” or those who vote sporadically, are more likely not to vote if Election Day is accompanied by heavy rain.
- Voters who are motivated, or motivated by civic duty, are unlikely to be affected by the weather, Hansen believes.
- Tom Fujihara, assistant professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University, also found that rainfall reduces voter turnout, but only slightly.
- Rain alone does not create large swings in voter turnout, but when you take into account that the 2020 and 2016 elections were decided by narrow margins in a few crucial states, small events can matter, according to Fujihara.
