More than 8.8 million Americans have already voted in the U.S. presidential election.

Based off data released by states that have started accepting ballots, more registered Democrats are voting early compared to Republicans.

Officials from both parties say Democrats are far more eager to vote early to avoid possibly exposing themselves to the virus at Election Day polling sites. Many Republicans have followed the lead of President Donald Trump, who has regularly castigated voting by mail, while the party's leadership in some states has offered mixed messages about when supporters should vote.

While millions of people are choosing to vote by mail this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, others are opting for in-person early voting.

Recent controversies including criticism by the Trump administration over the U.S. Postal Service and doubts about the acceptance of ballots are leading some to head to the polls in-person. 

In Virginia, early voting began September 28th. Officials say election workers are receiving about 2,000 mail-in ballots per day and hundreds are lining up to vote in-person. More than 890,000 people have already cast ballots by voting in person, by mail or drop box.

"We're probably looking at three times the rate for early voting that we saw in 2016," said Gary D. Scott, the head of the office of elections in Fairfax County, to the Washington Post.

"I want to make sure that my ballot didn't get torn up, that it didn't get thrown away, and that there wasn't anything going on at the polls that shouldn't be going on there," Linda Cottrell told the Los Angeles Times.

Early voting began October 7th in Arizona. The LA Times reports, fear was a common factor among reasons why people decided to vote early. Voters were worried their mail-in ballots wouldn’t arrive on time, get lost or election officials would stop counting.

In Georgia, early in-person voting began Monday. Thousands of people turned out in long lines. Voters in Fulton County faced technical glitches that temporarily stopped voting but officials were able to clear the lines by mid-morning.

CNN reports the state of Ohio has received almost 2.2 million ballot requests... double those from early October 2016.

Considering millions have already cast their votes early, experts predict a record turnout for the election. 

National opinion polls show Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the lead over Trump. 

But as officials brace for an influx of mail-in ballots compared to previous elections, they are also warning, Americans might not have a final result by the end of the night on November 3rd. 

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