Lee County is certain to exceed its vote total from 2020 once the polls close on Election Day, scheduled for Tuesday.

23,806 ballots were cast during the early voting period, which ran from October 17 through Saturday. That’s nearly 96 percent of the 24,855 Lee Countians who voted in the 2020 election, and more than 57 percent of the county’s registered voters as of Monday.

Party registration information is available for those who have cast ballots, but vote totals aren’t available until the election is over. According to the John Locke Foundation’s Vote Tracker, Republicans made up about 36 percent of the early vote with 8,525 ballots cast in person or by mail. Unaffiliated voters followed that with 7,645 (32 percent) and Democrats had 7,446 (31 percent). Additionally, 190 votes were voters aligned with the Libertarian Party, the No Labels Party, the Green Party, and the We the People Party.

There’s plenty of room for growth for each designation when it comes to Election Day voters. There are 4,228 Republicans in Lee County who didn’t cast ballots during the early period, 4,990 Democrats who have yet to vote, and 7,954 remaining unaffiliated voters. Put another way, 66.8 percent of Republicans have cast their vote, 59.9 percent of Democrats voted early, and 49 percent of unaffiliated voters have already voted.

Women outvoted men during the early period, 12,325 (52 percent) to 9,830 (41 percent). There were 1,651 early votes (7 percent) for which gender wasn’t specified. 40 percent of the county’s female voters have yet to cast a ballot, while 43 percent of the county’s male voters haven’t yet voted.

White voters cast 16,754 early votes, or nearly 74 percent. Black voters cast 4,001 early votes, or about 16.8 percent. “Undesignated” or “Other” voters, as well as Asian voters, Native American voters, and those of two or more races combined for 3,051 early votes, or 12.82 percent.

There are 9,497 white voters in Lee County who haven’t yet voted, or about 36 percent of their total registration. There are 3,506 black voters who have yet to cast a ballot, or about 48 percent of their total registration. The Locke Foundation’s Vote Tracker doesn’t include the number of voters listed as Hispanic who have cast an early ballot, but the state Board of Elections website shows there are 3,804 of them in Lee County, about 9 percent of the county’s 41,260 registered voters.

Polls are open on Tuesday from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Find your polling place here.