The number of people voting early in Maricopa County continues to increase.

Early voting ballots at the Maricopa County Recorder's Office. (Photo by Al Macias - KJZZ)

Elections officials say more than 400,00 early ballots had been returned as of mid-day Friday. More than half of all ballots in Maricopa County are cast before Election Day. County recorder Helen Purcell says the number of early ballots returned has already set a record.

"We have about twice as many ballots back in the house, percentage wise, as what we had in the 2010 election," Purcell said. "You know this is a very important election. We understand that we always get a higher percentage in a presidential year. But this seems much greater than what we’ve seen in the past."

"This is a redistricting year. So we have a lot of new people running, we have a lot of new districts and new areas. We see our Senate race, our congressional races, we have a new congressional district. I think all that has energized people to do something this year," Purcell said.

Purcell says early voting has allowed the elections office to reduce the number of voting precincts by more than 400 sites. For those who prefer to vote on Election Day, there are still more than 700 locations across the county.