OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - State Election Board officials say more than 20,000 Oklahomans have already cast their ballots for the Nov. 6 general election.

State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said Friday that county election boards have received 20,016 absentee ballots mailed by Oklahoma voters. The county election boards have sent 53,132 absentee ballots to Oklahoma voters who requested them.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot for the general election is Oct. 31.

The state election board says almost 20,000 absentee ballots have been sent to Democratic voters and about 7,500 of them have been returned.

More than 29,000 ballots have been sent to Republican voters and more than 11,000 have been returned.

Almost 3,600 ballots have been sent to voters registered as independents and about 1,100 have been returned.