1 mln New Yorkers cast ballots as one day left for early voting: mayor

NEW YORK - One million New Yorkers have voted early in the city, tweeted Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday, while encouraging more voters to turn out to cast their ballots on the final day of the early voting in New York.

One day earlier, Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted that "You can vote early -- but you can't vote late. Early Voting ends on November 1 in New York. Election Day is November 3. Make your voice heard".

New York's early voting period runs from Oct 24 to Nov 1, and there will be no early voting on Nov 2.

The turnout has been heavy in the state, leading to long lines in densely populated areas, including New York City, where some voters waited for several hours to cast their ballots.

"Statewide, more than 1.6 million New Yorkers voted by the end of Thursday, with the big final weekend yet to be counted," reported Newsday on Sunday.

In the 2016 general election, New York ranked the 41st in the country for voter turnout, with just more than 57 percent of the voting-eligible population casting ballots. The state improved its turnout ranking by three spots compared to the 2012 general election.

Nationwide, over 91 million voters have cast their ballots till Saturday evening, or 65 percent of the total votes counted for the previous General Election in 2016, local media reported.