Washington, Oct 26 (IANS): The number of people who have already cast their ballots in the early voting for the November 3 US presidential election has hit a record 58.6 million, with just nine days remaining for Election Day.

The figure revealed on Sunday has surpassed the total number of people who submitted early or absentee ballots in the 2016 contest for the White House, The Hill news website reported.

Registered Democrat voters were leading with 51 per cent of the total ballots cast, while Republicans made up for 31 per cent.

Reacting to the voter percentage, Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign, said: "The huge majority of President Trump's supporters are planning to vote on Election Day and Democrats are going to be short of the early vote marks they need in key battleground states.

"They know it, so no one should be fooled by this early vote narrative,"

The campaign of Trump's Democratic rival Joe Biden was yet to comment on the record turnout figure.

In the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, more Americans were choosing to vote by mail than ever before.

Meanwhile, the latest Quinnipiac University poll national released on October 23 showed Biden with a 10-point advantage, and a RealClearPolitics polling average revealed that the former Vice President was leading by 8.1 percentage points.

According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on October 21, Biden was in the lead with support from 49 per cent of registered voters, while Trump had the backing of 45 per cent, The Hill news agency reported.