More than 18 million people in the U.S. have already voted ahead of the November 3 election day.

According to data from the U.S. Elections Project, there were already 18,639,104 registered voters who have already cast their ballots via mail or in-person as of Thursday evening.

The project led by the University of Florida professor Michael McDonald is closely tracking early voting turnout.

In total, the United States has already surpassed about 12 percent of its total vote from the 2016 presidential election. Democrats were seen to be driving the majority of early voters count.

Election observers said that this could be the first time in the U.S. election history that a huge number of voters cast their votes before election day.

Several states have already surpassed 20 percent of their total in the 2016 poll. These states include electoral battlegrounds like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Florida.

In a The Guardian interview, McDonald cited the magnitude of larger numbers of people voting, saying that it is "nuts." 

Earlier reports showed that more than nine million U.S. voters have already voted ahead of the election day.

McDonald earlier forecasted about 150 million people, or nearly 65 percent of the population, would vote in this year's election. 

Democrats Leading in Early Voting

Democrats have encouraged their supporters to vote as early as possible, either via mail or in person.

Voting early comes due to fears the U.S. Postal Service might not deliver mail-in ballots on time.

During the Democratic convention in August, former first lady Michelle Obama encouraged voters to vote early and in person if they can.

She added that voters need to immediately request their ballots and send them back as soon as possible, adding to follow up to ensure that they are received.

According to a CNN report, a Gallup polling data showed earlier this month that more than six in 10 Democrats said they had either already voted or planned to do so before the election. Meanwhile, only 24 percent of the Republicans said the same.

The huge voting shift is caused by two main factors, which are the coronavirus pandemic and President Donald Trump's response to it.

McDonald said the early voting rate is a double advantage for Democrats.

"Not only are there advantages for Democrats for the number of ballot requests, but they're also adding on to that advantage by having their voters return their ballots at a higher rate than Republicans," McDonald said in a The Guardian report.

Swing States Vote Comparisons

In 2016, the state of Florida garnered 992,584 votes in the same period. For this year, the state has a total of 2,092,131 votes as of reporting.

In North Carolina, the number of votes seemed to have also doubled with 502,462 recorded tally this year, from 2016's 228,824 votes.

In Georgia, the 2016 number of votes had reached 448,055 to this year's 918,873. Michigan has 1,159,224 votes now, compared to 2016's 369,721.

In Wisconsin, the 2016 election had a total of 234,396 votes, compared to this year's 592,579. 

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