Record flood of early votes transforms US election

People wait in line to vote on Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina (Robert Willett/The News & Observer/AP)

More than 22 million Americans have already cast ballots in the 2020 election, a record-shattering avalanche of early votes driven by Democratic enthusiasm and a pandemic that has transformed the way the nation votes.

The 22.2 million ballots submitted as of Friday night represents 16% of 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.