Early voting picks up during final three days for 4,945 total

Early voting finished with a flurry Saturday with nearly 1,500 people going to the polls the last three days of early balloting.

According to election administrator Donna Yates, a total of 4,945 people voted early at the two sites located at the county government building. Registered voters who did not take advantage of the option will still be able to vote at their home precincts Thursday during election day.

Election officials reported no significant problems during the two-week early voting period as the pair of polling places helped alleviate long waits despite the extensive ballot.

The final number comes after 3,476 people had voted as of Wednesday, meaning the final three days averaged nearly 500 voters per day, a high number especially considering Saturday was only a three-hour voting day.

Election officials hope the large early turnout is an indicator of an overall large turnout come election day. Generally, about half of the local voters take advantage of the early voting option.

The recent number is ahead of the 4,709 who voted in the May primary, setting a new record for early voting in a purely primary election. The current election involves local races, as well as primaries for state and national offices.

The largest early voting turnout in history came before the presidential election of 2004 when 7,940 cast early votes. This year?s election is also ahead of the early voting numbers for the election of August, 2002 when 4,307 people voted early. However, there was no district attorney?s race that year.