Early voting record: More than 2 million votes cast so far in Illinois

CHICAGO - The countdown is well underway.

There are eight days left until Election Day and voters in Illinois have already broken a record.

“I just want to tell everyone...come out and vote!” exclaimed voter Cephronia Jackson.

Statewide, more than 2 million votes have been cast so far. The Illinois State Board of Elections says that is a new record.

The previous high for votes before Election Day by mail and in-person was 1.89 million in 2016.

“I think it's great and it should be a little bit more,” Jackson said.

“I think it's important. I want my opinion to be counted,” added voter Alexandra Sino.

Chicago is on track to break vote-by-mail and early voting records. So far, more than 200,000 people have voted in person. More than 312,000 vote-by-mail ballots have been returned.

Vanessa Williams says she never voted early before, but made it a priority.

“Because my vote counts,” she said.

Voting in Illinois: What you need to know for the 2020 general election

Nationwide, more people already have cast ballots in this year's presidential election than voted early or absentee in the 2016 election.

According to the Associated Press, 58.6 million ballots have been cast so far, more than the 58 million the AP logged as being cast through the mail or at in-person early voting sites in 2016.

“It's better to come early to vote and not wait until the last minute,” said voter Ahmed Abubaker.

If you applied for a vote-by-mail ballot and you have it, but changed your mind and would like to vote in person, all you have to do is take the ballot with you when you vote.