US Election: Joe Biden leads Donald Trump in four key states, says NYT poll

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is leading President Donald Trump, the Republican incumbent, in four key swing states, according to a poll released on Sunday, just two days before Election Day.

A poll of likely voters conducted by the New York Times and Siena College between October 26 and October 31 showed that Biden, the former vice president, currently holds an advantage over Trump in the states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and Arizona, Xinhua news agency reported.

Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in all of the four states in 2016, winning Wisconsin and Pennsylvania by less than 1 percentage point. Flipping any of these states would certainly boost Biden's chance of winning the tight election race.

Biden is ahead of Trump by three points, 47 to 44 per cent, in large swing state Florida, but the lead is within the margin of error (3.2 percentage points), the poll showed. In 2016, Trump won the battleground state by 1.2 percentage points.

In Pennsylvania, where Biden was born, the Democratic challenger is leading by six points, 49 to 43 per cent, with a 2.4-percentage-point margin of error, according to the poll.

Biden is also ahead of Trump by 6 points in Arizona, 49 to 43 per cent, and 11 points in Wisconsin, 52 to 41 per cent, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points and 3.2 points respectively.

Pollsters surveyed 1,451 likely voters in Florida, 1,862 in Pennsylvania, 1,253 in Wisconsin and 1,252 in Arizona.

The poll also showed that many of those who said they did not vote in 2016 said they had already cast their ballots this year, pointing to record turnout. In Florida, more than two-thirds of nonvoters in 2016 who were identified as likely voters this year said they had already voted.

More than 93 million Americans had already cast their ballots as of Sunday noon, amounting to 67.7 per cent of total votes counted in the 2016 election, according to the United States Election Project.