Just under 120,000 Mainers have requested absentee ballots for the upcoming November elections. The secretary of state’s office said Democrats are making up a strong majority of early requests.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap projects upward of 463,000 Mainers will vote by absentee ballot to avoid voting in person.

Dunlap’s office released the first breakdown of the numbers this week.

Democrats make up about 60 percent of the absentee ballot requests, who also turned out higher numbers for absentee voting in the July primary.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot online or via telephone is Oct. 29, which is five days before the election.

That is different from the primary, when Gov. Janet Mills allowed voters to request absentee ballots as late as Election Day, which created problems for clerks and delayed the vote counts.

As in the past, in-person voter registration can still continue right through Election Day.