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.

He 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 Monday or 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.

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.