12 percent of Illinois voters have cast ballots
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CHICAGO (AP) -- State Board of Elections records show 12 percent of Illinois' record 8 million registered voters have cast ballots ahead of next week's presidential election.
The total includes those who voted in person, by mail or used grace period registration, which lets people register and vote simultaneously.
Totals updated on Wednesday show over 8 million active registered voters, a number expected to increase because Illinois allows registration through Election Day.
Over 1 million Illinoisans have voted. Most cast ballots in person.
Election officials say early voting is increasingly popular. Illinois has expanded its early voting period.
Daily pre-election early voting totals weren't available for previous years.
Officials say during 2012's general election, nearly 16 percent of registered voters voted early at polls, representing 22 percent of the nearly 5.3 million votes.