In a first, US independent turnout tops Democrats, ties Republicans, Edison Research says

People wait in line to vote at St. Pius Church during the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Election Day, in Portland, Maine, U.S., November 5, 2024. Faith Ninivaggi/File Photo

Self-identified independents accounted for a larger share of voters in Tuesday's U.S. presidential election than Democrats and were tied with Republicans, Edison Research exit polling data showed.

It was the first time since Edison began exit polling in 2004 that independents' share of overall turnout has exceeded that of one of the two major U.S. political parties.

The independent share stood at 34% in the latest update of Edison's exit poll, compared with 34% for Republicans and 32% for Democrats.

The independent turnout share was up 8 percentage points from 2020, when at 26% it was a distant third to both Democrats and Republicans.

As in 2020, independents favored the Democratic candidate - Vice President Kamala Harris - but Republican Donald Trump nonetheless improved his performance with the key swing voter bloc. Some 50% of independents said they voted for Harris and 45% for Trump - a 4 percentage point improvement for the Republican from 2020.

(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Tom Hogue and Deepa Babington)