The state’s top elections official anticipates record voter turnout in Massachusetts this November, exceeding the almost 3.7 million voters who went to the polls in 2020.

“We have 1.7 [million] almost having already been returned, we expect more votes and ballots to come back from the mail-out ballots over the next 28 hours,” Secretary of State William Galvin said Monday morning during a press conference about Tuesday’s elections.

Galvin said the contentious presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is likely what’s driving so many people to the polls.

Athol Town Clerk Nancy Burnham said this election is similar to 2020’s presidential election, though the town saw more mail-in voting then, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She added that these elections typically see a 75% turnout from the town, “so we anticipate that, if not more.”

All voting in Athol will be done at Town Hall, and both floors will be used in anticipation of the high turnout. Burnham said that they’ll be fully staffed, including greeters to direct people to which floor their precinct is voting on. Of the town’s 9,444 registered voters, she said 1,407 used the early voting option. She added that 2,201 mail-in ballots were sent, of which 1,556 were returned, meaning a third of the town has already voted.

“I’m glad that people are out voting,” Burnham said. “Obviously, this is a very important election.”

In Greenfield, City Clerk Kathy Scott estimated that early voting turnout is likely around the range it was four years ago.

“Through early voting and vote by mail, we already have about 26% voter turnout,” Scott said Monday afternoon, adding she believes that is “comparable to 2020,” although she didn’t have the exact numbers. “I think we will be easily at 60% by close of polls tomorrow, but that’s just a guess.”

With that 60% expectation set, Scott said it will likely be a busy day for the City Clerk’s office.

“We are currently highlighting voter lists, so we can get them up to the polls,” she said. “We are busy, that’s for sure.”

Galvin said expanded voting options, like mail-in ballots and an extended early voting period, have created more opportunities for residents to cast their ballots. However, at this point in the election process, he warned that voters should no longer vote by mail.

If a voter wants to be sure their ballot gets counted, he said, they can drop it off Tuesday at a ballot drop box outside a municipal building or at a local election office. He said you cannot drop a mail in ballot off at a polling location.

Mailed ballots that are postmarked by Tuesday, Nov. 5 and received by local election offices by Friday, Nov. 8 will still be counted, but it is a less reliable way to vote at this point.

Phillipston Town Clerk Karin Foley said that of the 1,450 registered voters in town, 520 have utilized early voting or mail-in voting. She expects that most of those remaining voters will show up on Tuesday. In anticipation of the expected high turnout, Foley has added more people to the town’s team of election workers.

“We’ll get through it,” she said. “I’ll be very happy when the day is over.”

Foley hopes to have the votes tallied by midnight, adding that of the 520 early votes, 331 ballots have been processed, but not tallied. She added that all ballots will be hand-counted.

Voters in Northfield are certainly taking advantage of the early voting options, as more than 1,000 of the town’s approximately 2,500 registered voters have already participated, according to Town Clerk Amanda Lynch and Assistant Town Clerk Dan Campbell.

“We’ve had a good number of people already voting,” Lynch said, noting the 1,000 early voters is more than the number of early voters in 2020. “Everything’s been great so far, thanks to the grant we got, we’ve got extra booths and signage.”

Galvin said he is not worried about political violence at polls on Election Day, but reminded voters that state law prohibits political activity within 150 feet of polling locations — including wearing political clothing. He also said there are police officers at every polling place, and that election officials have been closely trained.

As the ways in which elections are run have come under fire in recent years, and former President Donald Trump in 2020 publicly denounced the results of the election that he lost to President Joe Biden, Galvin said Monday that he has faith in election officials around the country and in the democratic process.

“As the now senior election administrator in the United States, amongst all the states, I think what we’ve seen over the last several weeks in the remarkable turnout of almost 80 million citizens under intense security with continued review of activities, what we’ve seen is the continued commitment of not just voters who participate, but also on the integrity of those who run elections in our country,” Galvin said.

Athol Daily News Editor Max Bowen and Staff Writer Chris Larabee contributed to this report.