BATON ROUGE - Louisiana voters turned out in record numbers during early voting, surprising the state's top elections official who had worried the animosity of the presidential race could cause a voting slump.

Instead, Secretary of State Tom Schedler says voters' anger about the presidential candidates seems to be driving people to the polls in Louisiana.

More than 515,000 voters cast their ballots early in Louisiana's weeklong early voting period. That's 17 percent of the state's 3 million registered voters. By comparison, nearly 357,000 people early voted for the presidential election four years ago.

Schedler described the numbers released Wednesday as "staggering." He's predicting a statewide voter turnout for next week's election that could top the 68 percent level of the 2012 presidential election and reach as high as 70 percent.