US voters have cast more than 10 million votes for the Nov 3 presidential election, significantly outpacing the early vote in 2016 and suggesting a large turnout, according to data compiled by the US Elections Project.
The surge in early voting comes amid the coronavirus pandemic that has led to more early and mail balloting, particularly among Democrats.
Republican President Donald Trump has sowed confusion and distrust of mail balloting, making repeated, unfounded allegations of widespread fraud ahead of his contest with Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
As of Monday night, nearly 10.4 million Americans had cast a vote in states that report early voting data, according to the election information resource at the University of Florida. By comparison, as of Oct 16, 2016, only about 1.4 million Americans had cast an early vote.
The number of ballots cast in five statesMinnesota, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsinhad already exceeded 20 per cent of total 2016 turnout.
Elsewhere in the United States, the California Republican Party admitted responsibility for placing more than 50 deceptively labelled "official" drop boxes for mail-in ballots in Los Angeles, Fresno and Orange countiesan action that state officials said was illegal and could lead to voter fraud.
The dark grey metal boxes have been popping up over the past two weeks near churches, gun shops and Republican Party offices, mostly in conservative areas of a deep-blue state, affixed with a white paper label identifying them as either an "Official Ballot Drop-off Box" or a "Ballot Drop Box".
To the average voter, they are virtually indistinguishable from drop-off sites approved by the state, which are governed by strict regulations intended to prevent the partisan manipulation of ballots.
The actions of the largely marginalised state party come at a time when Republicans and Democrats are engaged in a bitter national struggle over voting rights, with Mr Trump's allies accusing Democrats in Minnesota and elsewhere of undermining the integrity of the electoral process by expanding absentee voting and other measures to increase ballot access.
On Monday, California's secretary of state, Mr Alex Padilla, and Attorney-General Xavier Becerra sent a cease-and-desist order to the state-and county-level Republican parties, ordering them to remove the boxes. They urged people who might have unknowingly dropped off their ballots in the receptacles to sign up with the state's voter-tracking website to ensure their votes are counted.
"Misleading voters is wrong regardless of who is doing it," Mr Padilla said, adding that the boxes "are not permitted by state law".
Mr Becerra called the boxes "fake", adding that it was "illegal to tamper with a citizen's vote". He warned that anyone "engaging in this activity" could be subject to criminal prosecution or civil action.
California Republican Party spokesman Hector Barajas said the party would continue to distribute the boxes, without adding any label identifying them explicitly as Republican ballot drops.
Mr Barajaswho disclosed that Republicans were responsible for the boxes only after being bombarded by questions by newsmen on Mondaysaid the party's actions were legal because state law did not restrict "ballot harvesting", a practice that allows businesses or other organizations to collect batches of completed ballots.
Mr Trump and his supporters had decried the practice as corrupt when Democrats were accused of collecting bundles of ballots, which is legal in 26 states but subject to verification requirements.
REUTERS, NYTIMES