Nearly 86 million people voted before Election Day

Nearly 86 million people cast ballots before Election Day this year as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump work to get their supporters to the polls.

The total number of early votes was 85,903,679. Some 46.7 million were in-person early votes, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab. A total of 67.4 million mail ballots were requested, 39.4 million mail ballots had been returned by Tuesday afternoon.

That's about double the number of early voters during the 2022 midterm election, when 45.9 million people got to the polls before the final day, but not as many as the 2020 general election during the COVID-19 pandemic when 101.4 million people voted early, according to the Election Lab.

All told, 155 million people turned out for the 2020 presidential election, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That race had the highest voter turnout of the 21st century, with 66.8% of citizens 18 and older voting in the election.

As many as 150 million Americans are expected to cast ballots this election.

Trump and Harris are battling in swing states – and elsewhere – for the White House at the top of the ticket. Also hanging in the balance is control of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, along with state and local issues.

Trump and Harris were nearly tied in final polls before Election Day.

Polling guru Nate Silver said his election model suggests a tight race.

"Out of 80,000 simulations, Kamala Harris won in 40,012 (50.015%) cases. She did not win in 39,988 simulations (49.985%). Of those, 39,718 were outright wins for Donald Trump and the remainder (270 simulations) were exact 269-269 Electoral College ties," he wrote in the Silver Bulletin.