Record numbers of voters are reportedly casting ballots in the US ahead of Election Day.

According to the US Election Project, more than 22m Americans had voted early by Friday, either in person or by mail. Around 6m voters had been cast at the same point in 2016.

Experts say that the increase in ballots cast has been seen in wake of the coronavirus pandemic as many people seek alternatives to Election Day voting.

Texas has set a record for most ballots cast on the first day of early voting on Tuesday. On the Columbus Day federal holiday, officials in Georgia reported126, 876 votes cast on Monday- also a state record.

Furthermore, more than 2.3m postal ballots have been requested in Ohio, double the figure in 2016.

Reports say that registered Democrats have outvoted registered Republicans, casting more than double the number of ballots. More women and Black Americans are voting in high numbers of these early voting democrats.

However, Republicans say that Democrats may win the early vote, but that Republicans will show up in large numbers on Election Day.

According to a 2017 study by the Brennan Center for Justice, the rate of voting fraud overall in the US is between 0.00004% and 0.0009%.