Record 46.2 million votes in early voting in US presidential polls

Washington: A record 46.2 million of the estimated 200 million voters have exercised their franchise in the 2016 US presidential elections before the official voting day, surpassing the 2012 record when 32.3 million people had voted in advance.

Experts said the massive turn out in 2016 general elections in early voting reflects the change in the voting patterns of Americans.

"Some voters are clearly changing as they opted to vote early instead of the election day," said Michael McDonald, an early-voting expert who runs the elections project.

He, however, said that high level of early voting may also be a sign of increased overall turnout. McDonald said that there are signs that Clinton would benefit from early voting.

"You can look at the demographics of these folks. I can tell you for sure it is not a surge of older white men making up the unaffiliated," he said.

"In comparison to 2012, there are more white women than white men among unaffiliateds, and African-Americans, there are some, and other persons of colour. Don't think of these as monolithically white males, that's wrong, don't think of them as independents, because independents tend to break more Republican than unaffiliateds," he added.