Over 40 million have cast early ballots in US midterm elections: What it means

US Midterm Elections 2022: According to the US elections project, as of Monday there have been more than 18.5 early votes cast in-person.

More than 40 million Americans have already cast early ballots ahead of midterm elections today, the US elections project said. The number of early ballots has surpassed the numbers from two years ago as US votes to elect 435 members of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate.

US Midterm Elections: "I Voted" stickers await voters after they cast their vote.(AFP)

According to the US elections project, as of Monday there have been more than 18.5 early votes cast in-person and 22.3 million by mail for a total of 40.8 million, AFP reported.

What is early voting?

Early voting, which is also called advance polling or pre-poll voting, is a voting process by which voters can vote before a scheduled election day. This type of voting can take place remotely through postal voting or in person at designated early voting polling stations. The process is aimed at increasing voter participation and reducing congestion at polling stations on election day.

The numbers of voters who vote early has increased in recent years. Most of the 50 US states allow voters to cast ballots early, either in-person or by mail. The practice became widespread during the 2020 presidential election, which was held amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Republicans have repeatedly lodged technical objections to early voting in several states where elections could be a close contest.