AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) The number of absentee ballot requests in Maine has topped 233,000, and Democrats continue to outnumber Republicans in requesting them.

As of Tuesday, 233,438 voters had requested an absentee ballot. That’s an increase of more than 42,000 from the previous week.

Secretary of State Matt Dunlap estimates that as many as 600,000 people will vote by absentee ballot in the Nov. 3 election.

The state is encouraging Mainers to vote by absentee ballots in the Nov. 3 election because of the pandemic.