Early voters out in droves for US presidential election

Voters wait in line outside the Herbert C. Young Community Centre in Cary, North Carolina (Ethan Hyman/AP)

More than 17 million Americans have already cast ballots in the 2020 election, a record-shattering avalanche of early votes driven both by Democratic enthusiasm and a pandemic that has transformed the way the nation votes.

The total represents 12% of the all votes cast in the 2016 presidential election, even as eight states are not yet reporting their totals and voters still have more than two weeks to cast ballots.