More than 100,000 Mass. voters cast ballots during first weekend of early voting

More than 116,000 Massachusetts voters cast their ballots for this year's presidential election during the first three days of early voting.

In addition, more than half a million residents have submitted mail-in ballots so far, according to the secretary of state's office. By Tuesday evening, local election clerks reported that about 14% of registered voters had participated in the general election.

"All of this is evidence of a high level of interest and hopefully will lead to a good turnout," said Secretary of State Bill Galvin.

Beyond the showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, this election will determine a U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts and five statewide ballot questions. (Read more about what's on your ballot, here.)

About 1.3 million residents have requested mail-in ballots, according to Galvin's office. Voters must apply to vote by mail in this election by next Tuesday, Oct. 29.

Galvin said it's too early to know if mail-in voting will be more popular than four years ago. In 2020, about 40% of general election ballots (1,524,630) were submitted by mail, 23% (843,970) were cast during the early voting period and 35% (1,289,372) were filled out on Election Day.

"You can't make a comparison, because four years ago we were in the middle of a pandemic," Galvin said. "It's certainly stronger than we've seen in some of the intervening elections, primary elections. And it's not surprising. It's a presidential election."

Vote-by-mail first became an option for all voters in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic and has since been made permanent.

Galvin said anyone who wants to return their ballot through the U.S. Postal Service should mail it no later than Tuesday, Oct. 29. However, voters can also submit mail-in ballots to their community's official drop box, early voting location or local election office.

Early voting continues through Nov. 1. Here's how you can check your municipality's early voting locations. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

With additional reporting by WBUR's Dan Guzman. This story has been updated to reflect new election data.