Early voting showed nearly 70,000 ballots had been cast in Chester County.

WEST GOSHEN — Four days after voter registration closed in Pennsylvania, more than 68,000 voters in Chester County have already cast ballots in hotly contested federal and state elections.

As of Thursday, 110,517 voters had requested mail-in ballots, and 70,578 had been returned, according to the county’s voter services office. Of those returned, 68,373 votes were counted, representing just over 17 percent of the county’s total registered voters.

Voters have until Oct. 29 to request mail-in or absentee ballots and until polls close on Election Day, Nov. 5, to return them.

The county has 393,916 registered voters, up 13,678 from 2020, when Joe Biden ran against then-President Donald Trump. Biden carried Trump in the district by 182,372 votes to Trump’s 128,565 votes, a difference of 43,807 votes, contributing to Biden’s narrow victory in the state (80,555 votes).

More than 9 million people in Pennsylvania are registered to vote. The last day for registration was October 21st.

In the county, Democratic voters returned a total of 38,261 ballots, compared to 20,431 Republican ballots. Unaffiliated voters, or those who voted as third parties, received an additional 6,930 votes.

While Democrats are historically more likely to vote by mail, their overall statewide registration advantage has shrunk over the past four years. While the GOP gained more than 428,000 of the 3.7 million voters from 2020, Democrats lost 257,000 and fell to just under 4 million, trimming their lead to less than 300,000 statewide.

There are 162,840 registered Democrats and 156,183 registered Republicans in the district, helping maintain a blue party lead of 6,657 voters, less than it was in the primary. Over the past month, Republicans have signed up 1,979 voters compared to 1,198 Democratic voters.

Polls show the race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris neck and neck, with most showing Harris’ lead within the margin of error.

Polls in the county will open at 7 a.m. on Nov. 5 and close at 8 p.m.

For more information about polling places, Voter Services satellite offices and drop boxes, visit the Voter Services website at www.chesco.org.