A record 76,519 West Virginians have already cast their primary ballots, most of them through the "no excuse" early voting that ended Saturday.

Secretary of State Betty Ireland's office has tallied in-person early voters at 71,209. Another 5,310 state residents cast absentee ballots.

County and party totals were not immediately available Monday. As of Friday, more than 70 percent of the ballots cast were by Democrats, who outnumber Republicans nearly 2-to-1.

The previous record for a primary election was 27,226 early ballots cast in 2004.

The battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has been a big draw this year.

West Virginia began in-person early voting in 2002.