The state’s top election official predicts high but not record-breaking turnout in the Super Tuesday primary.

With what amounts to a pair of incumbent candidates running against each other again, Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin said he expects enthusiasm is up for the election, but not so high as it was the first time voters were asked to consider former President Donald Trump or President Biden.

“I don’t think it’s going to be the turnout we had four years ago,” he said. “It very much depends on the circumstances of a race.”

This election presents a “significant opportunity” for unaffiliated voters to make their voices heard, Galvin said. The majority of voters in the Bay State are registered as “unenrolled” and are not members of any major political party.

“They can take a ballot from either party without becoming a party member,” he said. “We have seen that high level of interest.”

Galvin said he expects “reasonably good” voter turnout in the end, but not the record-breaking attendance seen during Trump’s run in 2016 or Biden’s race in 2020. According to the Secretary of State, presidential election cycles over the last decade have been about the 45th President, who does tend to drive people to the polls, both for and against his candidacy.

“The one common theme between 2016, 2020, and 2024 is Donald Trump. It’s a factor, however you wanna play or however you wanna observe it,” he said.

As of Monday, according to Galvin’s office, the state had sent out 759,014 vote-by-mail ballots and received 479,778 of them back. In addition, 51,012 people cast a ballot at one of the early polling locations open in their voting districts between February 24 to March 1.

“We’ve had very significant participation in our early voting process,” Galvin said at a Monday morning press conference. “It indicates significant interest on the number of independent voters — which is the majority of our voters — to participate in this primary.”

Of the 530,790 ballots already received by elections officials, 355,616 are Democratic ballots, 168,779 Republican, and 6,395 Libertarian, according to Galvin’s office. In total, about 10.7% of the state’s electorate cast their ballots before voting began on Super Tuesday.

Galvin said that he is “gratified” by the level of interest shown in early and mail-in voting.

Voters who are still holding their mail-in ballots should not use the U.S. mail to return them, the secretary cautioned, but should instead drop them with their local elections office or in an approved drop box before the polls close. According to state law, Galvin said, primary ballots must be received — not postmarked — by the time voting ends in order to be counted.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. statewide on Tuesday. Voters who are uncertain of where to cast their ballot can find their polling place by visiting sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA and following the instructions.