Election Day voting was underway across much of the U.S. on Tuesday morning after tens of millions of Americans had already cast their ballots. Those early votes included record numbers in Georgia, North Carolina and other battleground states that could decide the winner.

The early turnout in Georgia, which has flipped between the Republican and Democratic nominees in the previous two presidential elections, has been so robust 鈥� 鈥� that a top official in the secretary of state鈥檚 office said the big day could look like a 鈥済host town鈥� at the polls.

As of Monday, Associated Press tracking of advance voting nationwide showed roughly 鈥� slightly more than half the total number of votes in the presidential election four years earlier. That鈥檚 driven partly by Republican voters, who were than in recent previous elections after a campaign by former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee to counter the Democrats鈥� longstanding advantage in the early vote.

Voters on Tuesday morning were streaming enthusiastically to the polls, even huddling under umbrellas in the rain as they lined up to cast their ballots in Houston and Omaha, Nebraska. Forecasters said voters in Colorado and Montana might see snow later in the day.

In the first hours of voting, some isolated reports emerged of hiccups common to every Election Day, including delays in getting e-pollbooks up and running in Louisville, Kentucky, and a power outage requiring the use of a generator at a polling location in St. Louis. In Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas in swing state Pennsylvania, two polling places faced delays opening when election judges did not arrive or showed up late. Allegheny County officials said one of the sites was up and running, and the other would be soon.

Despite long lines in some places and a few typical glitches, early in-person and mail voting also proceeded without any major problems.

That included in the parts of western North Carolina hammered last month by Hurricane Helene. State and local election officials, benefiting from made by the Republican-controlled legislature, to ensure residents could cast their ballots as they dealt with power outages, lack of water and washed out roads.

By the time early voting in North Carolina had ended on Saturday, 鈥� or nearly 57% of all registered voters in the state 鈥� had cast their ballots. As of Monday, turnout in the 25 western counties affected by the hurricane was even stronger at 59% of registered voters, state election board Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said.

Brinson Bell called the voters and election workers in the hurricane-hit counties 鈥渁n inspiration to us all.鈥�

Besides the hurricanes in North Carolina and , the most worrisome disruptions to the election season so far were in two drop boxes near the Oregon-Washington border. Authorities there were searching for the person responsible.

The absence of any significant, widespread problems has not stopped Trump, the Republican nominee, or the RNC, which is , from making numerous claims of fraud or election interference during the early voting period, a possible after Election Day.

He has mischaracterized into roughly 2,500 potentially fraudulent voter registration applications by saying one of the counties was 鈥渃aught with 2600 Fake Ballots and Forms, all written by the same person.鈥� The investigation is into registration applications; there is no indication that ballots are involved.

In Georgia, Republicans sought to prohibit voters from returning mailed ballots to their local election office by the close of polls on Election Day, votes that are allowed under state law. A judge over the weekend.

Trump and Republicans also have warned about the possibility that Democrats are recruiting to vote, a claim they have made and that including from Republican secretaries of state. Research has consistently shown that noncitizens registering to vote is rare. Any noncitizen who does faces , a significant disincentive.

One case of noncitizen voting was caught during early voting last month and resulted in felony charges in Michigan after a student from China .

This is the first presidential vote since four years ago and began various attempts to and remain in power. That climaxed with the violent Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to halt certification of the results after Trump to 鈥渇ight like hell.鈥�

Even now, a of Republicans believe that Biden was not legitimately elected, despite , and in the battleground states that all affirmed Biden鈥檚 win. A survey last month from showed Republicans remain than Democrats that their ballots will be counted accurately this year.

Seeking to rebuild voter confidence in a system targeted with , Republican lawmakers in more than a dozen states since 2020 have passed new voting restrictions. Those rules include shortening the window to apply or return a mail ballot, reducing the availability of ballot drop boxes and adding ID requirements.

On the last weekend before Election Day, Trump continued to against him and said a presidential winner should be , before all the ballots are counted.

Vice President Kamala Harris urged voters not to fall for of casting doubt on elections. The Democratic nominee told supporters that the tactic was intended to suggest to people 鈥渢hat if they vote, their vote won鈥檛 matter.鈥� Instead, she urged people who had already cast ballots to encourage their friends to do the same.

Through four years of and , local election officials have faced . That has prompted and led to heightened security for election offices and polling sites that includes .

While there have been no major reports of any malicious cyberactivity affecting election offices, foreign actors have been active in using fake social media profiles and websites to drum up partisan vitriol and disinformation. In the final weeks, U.S. intelligence officials have multiple in presidential swing states.

On the eve of Election Day, they issued a joint statement with federal law enforcement agencies warning that Russia in particular was , including in ways that could incite violence, and likely would continue those efforts well after the votes have been cast.

Jen Easterly, the nation鈥檚 top election security official, urged Americans to rely on state and local election officials for information about elections.

鈥淭his is especially important as we are in an election cycle with an unprecedented amount of disinformation, including disinformation being aggressively peddled and amplified by our foreign adversaries at a greater scale than ever before,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e cannot allow our foreign adversaries to have a vote in our democracy.鈥�