( CNN ) -- Americans set a record for number of votes cast in this presidential election but failed to make history with the percentage of voter turnout , experts said . A record 2.9 million voters cast ballots Tuesday in Missouri . Curtis Gans , director of American University 's Center for the Study of the American Electorate , said Thursday that percentage turnout was lower because Republicans stayed away from the polls . Disappointment over Sen. John McCain 's choice of Alaska Gov . Sarah Palin as his running mate , combined with a perception that the ticket would lose , prompted many would-be Republican voters to ditch the polls on Election Day , Gans said . `` There was real hostility ... amongst moderate Republicans '' that McCain would choose the conservative governor , Gans said . `` And then there was a gradual perception that the party was going to get whomped . '' Nevertheless , between 126.5 million and 128.5 million Americans cast ballots this year , according to a report by the electorate study center . Successful Democratic get-out-the-vote initiatives contributed to that number , which shattered 2004 's mark of 122.2 million . The report surveyed 47 states and the nation 's capital . Twenty-two of those states and the District of Columbia reported an increase in voter turnout this year , the center said . GOP turnout increased in only eight of the surveyed states , according to the report . The percentage of registered voters casting ballots this year is projected at 60.7 to 61.7 percent , according to the center -- a figure much lower than the modern-day record set in 1960 -- 67 percent . Democrat Barack Obama 's campaign is credited with building a sophisticated organization at local levels in key states that energized voters to register and to stand for hours in line to cast early ballots . Nationwide , early votes totaled at least 31.7 million in at least 30 early voting states , said Michael McDonald , a professor at George Mason University . McDonald , who also produced projections of voter turnout , estimated Friday that 130.9 million ballots were cast by 61.5 percent of Americans who were eligible to vote . The final tally is expected to be counted by early December , he said . Gans said many people believed this election 's turnout would shatter the 2004 mark because of the high amount of early voters , including African-Americans and younger voters , who historically vote in lower numbers . `` We failed to realize that the registration increase was driven by Democratic and independent registration and that the long lines at the polls were mostly populated by Democrats , '' he said . Voter registration increased this year by more than 10 million people , Gans said . See percentage of voting-age population that voted on Election Day 2004 , 2008 » . Absentee ballots tend to flow in at the last minute , McDonald said . But this year , with so many people participating in early and absentee voting ahead of the election , there may not be a large flood of absentee ballots , he said . He said Friday that turnout rates rose in states that became battlegrounds in this election . On the other hand , he said , voter turnout in states that lost battleground status was lower or held steady , compared with 2004 . Battleground state North Carolina 's turnout rate had the largest increase from 2004 , according to the center . The state reported a 69 percent turnout rate -- up from 56.8 percent in 2004 , according to center data . Missouri , another battleground , reported a record number of voters on Tuesday : 2.9 million . But its turnout percentage -- 69.4 percent -- failed to make history . In Maine , the secretary of state 's office projected a record-setting 80 percent turnout among registered voters , which would break Maine 's previous record of 74 percent in 2004 . Georgia , which saw a 61.3 percent turnout , up from 54.7 percent in 2004 , also had a record high turnout , according to data from the center . In 1908 -- when the voter pool was much smaller because African-Americans and women were denied the vote -- 65.7 percent cast ballots in the race between William Howard Taft and William Jennings Bryan . Towering above this year 's turnout was the historic race of 1860 , when Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas faced off , attracting 81.3 percent . CNN 's Debra Alban contributed to this report .
Report : About 127 million votes cast , shattering 2004 record . Turnout percentage about 61 percent , compared with 1960 's 67 percent . Early voting tracker : 31.7 million voted early in at least 30 early voting states . Another expert 's estimate projects nearly 131 million Americans voted .