TipsFocus.com

More than 29 million people in 30 states have already voted, according to partial state and county data provided to The Associated Press, and that number was projected to rise to 44 million out of 137 million total votes nationally, according to estimates by Edison Media Research and George Mason University political scientist Michael McDonald.

That would be an early vote of 32 percent of this year’s electorate, up from 22 percent in 2004 and 15 percent in 2000.

About a third of the American electorate was expected to vote before Election Day, largely to avoid long lines at the polls.

“It was so easy. I filled in my ballot with my wife over dinner and then dropped it off on the way to work,” said Tony Amadeo, 27, one of almost 1.5 million people who cast early ballots in Colorado, where for the first time a majority of votes in a presidential race will be cast in advance.

So far, Democrats have submitted 1 million more ballots than Republicans, though registration does not always indicate who voters choose for president.

Record early voting by Democrats in Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Nevada and Colorado suggests the Obama campaign has rolled up an early advantage over John McCain.