More than 64 million Americans have already voted in the US election - nearly half as many as the TOTAL number of ballots cast in 2016

More than 64 million Americans have already voted in the November 2020 election - nearly half the total number who voted in 2016.

Mailed ballots have become a subject of fierce debate after millions of Americans are relying on them to vote amid the coronavirus pandemic,

President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly and without evidence claimed that mailed ballots are likely to be subject to fraud, has said the ballots must be counted by November 3.

He tweeted on Monday: "Must have final total on November 3rd." Twitter flagged the tweet with a disclaimer describing the post's content as "disputed" and potentially misleading.

The huge volume of mail ballots could take days or weeks to tally, experts have said. Mail voting is nothing new for the United States - about one in four ballots were cast that way in 2016 - but is surging amid the pandemic.

Despite the early surge in voting, President Trump has embarked on a campaign blitz this week. We was scheduled on Tuesday to hold rallies in three states key to his re-election hopes - Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Democrat nominee Joe Biden was journeying to Georgia, where he is virtually tied with Mr Trump in the latest polling.

Most nationwide polls give Mr Biden a clear lead. However, his lead over Mr Trump narrows in key battleground states.

There have been fears of unrest if the final vote count is tight.

Mr Trump has declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he decides the November 3 presidential election results are fraudulent.

In September, he proposed mobilising soldiers under the 200-year-old Insurrection Act to put down unrest if he won.

"Look, it's called insurrection. We just send them in and we do it very easy," Trump told Fox News at the time.

He equivocated on the subject as recently as Saturday when he addressed supporters at a rally in Ohio.

"They ask me, ‘If you lose, will there be a friendly transition?’ Well, when I won, did they give me a friendly transition?” he asked the crowd.

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