Marion County Voters Head To The Polls Early

Taylor Bennett and Araceli Gomez-Aldana

More than 83,000 early votes were cast in Marion County this year, surpassing the early voting numbers for the 2016 Presidential Election.

County Clerk Myla Eldridge says she thinks the new voting satellite centers played a part in the larger turnout. Nearly 65,000 residents cast an early vote in person this year, compared to just under 46,000 in 2016. 

“I think definitely having six satellite voting locations made it convenient for the voters of Marion County," Eldridge says, "but we also have some excellent candidates and some very important races on the ballot as well.”

This is the first time in 10 years that Marion County has used satellite voting. Eldridge says nearly 8,000 people came out to vote Sunday alone -- the largest day of in-person early voting ever in Marion County.

Early voting ended at 12 p.m. on Monday, but those already in line were allowed to cast their ballots. According to the Marion County Clerk's Office says the last person in line finished voting at 1:50 p.m.

In all, the in-person early voting, absentee by mail ballots returned, military and overseas ballots returned and traveling board ballots returned this year outpaced the 2016 total by 14,900 votes.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Tuesday.