This is the traditional view, but not exactly correct.
In both FL and OH, for example, GOP always-—ALWAYS-—leads in absentee ballots. DemoKKKrats catch up and usually pass the GOP in “walk-in-early-voting.” (There’s a difference). Then on election day, over the past 2 presidential elections, Rs outvote Ds on election day. (In 2012, the walk-in-early-vote made the difference; in 2016, the absentee votes created such a cushion for Trump that walk-ins couldn’t overcome it).
There is a distinction between Absentee and Mail-in Ballots. The Trump spokesperson on CBS Sunday PM was totally inarticulate to explain the difference.
A person must request an Absentee Ballot. It is verified that that name is registered at that address before a ballot is sent.
Mail in ballots are sent en masse with no request from the voter and thus not even the pretense that the voter is alive and lives at the address.
Here in Fulton County Atlanta mail in ballots were allegedly sent to all voters. But only some voters saw those ballots. Did the Post Office fail to deliver some?
Was there incompetence or worse in the County Clerk’s office? As far as I know, the media is not curious to find out. Remember, when Kemp was secretary of state and vulnerable, the media knew it and let him slide and did not investigate anything. They accepted Kemp’s baloney of making Gary Cooley the scapegoat for bad decisions of Kemp.
