More than 55 million people have already voted in the run-up to election day

Washington- More than 55 million people voted in person or by mail during early votingthese are current figures that impact the presidential contest and the voting battles before Election Day on November 5th.

Data compiled by the University of Florida's Election Lab shows that more than 29 million early votes were cast in person at polling stations and another 25.9 million mail-in ballots were returned. More than 65.6 million mail-in ballots were requested.

According to 25 states reporting party registration, nearly 11 million registered Democrats have already voted, compared to nearly 10 million registered Republicans. Of those who cast ballots in person during early voting, 3.8 million are registered Republicans and 3.1 million are registered Democrats

According to the University of Florida Election Lab, 7.3 million Democrats who voted by mail returned their ballots, compared to just over 5.6 million registered GOP voters.

According to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office, more than three million people have voted in the battleground state of Georgia so far, representing 45% of the state's registered voters. Raffensperger told reporters that those numbers represented the best voter turnout during the early voting period the state has ever seen.

“It's easy to cast a vote, but it's hard to cheat,” he told reporters.

Republicans have been working to encourage their supporters to vote before Election Day in the dozens of states that allow it. Former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee have urged voters to vote either by mail or in person. But Trump has continued to oppose voting before Election Day, calling it “stupid” at a rally in Pennsylvania last month.

While the Republican presidential candidate indicated in a radio interview last week that he would cast his own early vote, former first lady Melania Trump did told Fox News' “Fox & Friends” On Tuesday, she announced that she and the former president will vote in Palm Beach, Florida, on Election Day.

“We'll be in Palm Beach and in the morning we'll go to the polls, me and my husband, and then there'll be a wait, a time of waiting and we'll see. “I hope it will be a success and a party in the evening,” she said.

Among those who have already cast their votes is President Biden, who voted personally in advance near Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday, and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, the agreed with his wife and son last week in St. Paul, Minnesota. Gus Walz, the governor's son who recently turned 18, voted for the first time in the 2024 general election.