CLEVELAND, Ohio - More than 150,000 Cuyahoga County voters have cast ballots early in person or have requested mail-in ballots.

The increase is 14 percent compared to 2014, the last midterm election, Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Director Pat McDonald said.

And increases are coming from Republicans and unaffiliated voters. But a new law that the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections began implementing in 2015 changed many Democrats' party affiliation to unaffiliated if they weren't voting once every four years.

The numbers counted are from the first day of early voting, which this year was Oct. 10, through Friday, which 18 days before the election.

McDonald said there are no lines if people vote early in person at the Board of Elections. Twenty people are operating the polls, he said.

This year, 3,012 people have voted in person, compared to 884 at the same time for the 2014 election.

Mail-in and in-person early voting 18 days out from the 2014 general election in Cuyahoga County:

Democrats: 75,675 voters (55 percent of the total vote)

Republicans in 2014: 33,964 voters (25 percent)

Unaffiliated: 26,854 (19 percent)

Total: 137,053

Eighteen days out in 2018:

Democrats: 68,760 (44 percent)

Republicans: 39,080 (25 percent)

Unaffiliated: 48,206 (30 percent)

Total: 156,251

While the number of Democrats in highly Democratic Cuyahoga County are down, the numbers of unaffiliated voters and Republicans are up.

Republicans appear to be energized after the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation battle to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It's unclear whether the unaffiliated voters are joining the "blue wave" that many people have predicted will occur in response to President Donald Trump, or if they're voting mostly Republican - or a combination of both.

Early voting in Cuyahoga County is not expected to reach the levels of presidential elections, when turnout is best. In a presidential election, it's typical for 40,000 people vote early in person. This year's numbers are nowhere close to approaching that level, McDonald said.