FAIRFAX COUNTY, Virginia (7News) — Early voting is underway in D.C., Maryland and Virginia in what will be another historic presidential election year.

7News spoke with several campaign workers and volunteers at the DMV and encountered scores of young people, all voting for the first time. They’re also hearing from residents who say they’re now well aware of how important mail-in votes were last time.

With less than a week until election day, trends again show large voter turnout. More than two million votes have already been cast in the metro area.

Early voting in D.C. began Monday. More than 86,000 residents have already voted by mail, according to the Board of Elections. That’s one-fifth of the city’s registered voters.

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Virginia was the state with the longest early voting at 45 days, and 1.2 million early votes have already been cast.

Fairfax County has seen a voter turnout of over 32% so far, with more than 171,000 early in-person votes cast.

More than 54,000 ballots were returned by mail and more were added. More than 30% of registered voters in Maryland have already voted, with more than 900,000 in-person and mail ballots cast, according to the state board of elections.

More than 70,000 people have already voted in Montgomery County. In neighboring Prince George’s, more than 63,000 people went to the polls early.

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“So the total votes between early voting and mail-in voting for Democrats in 2022 was 28,000. As of yesterday, four days before early voting, the number is at the same 28,000. So we have a much higher trend than last time, but Republicans also have a higher trend. They received 11,000 mail ballots and early votes in 2022, said campaign worker John Funderbunk in Frederick County; “As of yesterday, this number was 18,000,” he says.

Maryland is on track to reach half a million voters before Nov. 5.

Early voting is also on the rise in Northern Virginia. And rural areas and red Republican districts are showing the biggest increases.