(Bloomberg) -- More than 100 million Americans have cast their ballots ahead of Election Day, the equivalent of about three-quarters of all the voters in the 2016 election, the U.S. Elections Project reported Tuesday.
With one day to go before Election Day, the number of early votes this cycle -- at least 100.8 million -- is about 73% of the 137.5 million ballots cast in the 2016 election as a whole, and more than double the 47 million early votes.
The surge in early voting across the U.S. reflects concern about the coronavirus pandemic as well as increased enthusiasm for the election. As the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the country in March, state legislatures across the country eased barriers to early and mail-in voting.
The number of ballots cast includes both returned mail ballots as well as in-person votes cast during the early voting period. More than 27 million mail-in ballots are still outstanding, according to the U.S. Elections Project which tracks state voter turnout.
The first state to report that early voter turnout had exceeded the total number of ballots cast in the 2016 election was Hawaii on Thursday evening. It was soon followed by Texas Friday morning.
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