TOLEDO, Ohio — The Lucas County Board of Elections was quiet Monday morning, as early voting had ended the day before and officials geared for Election Day on Tuesday.
On Sunday though, a line of thousands of people waiting to cast their ballots early wrapped around the building.
"I expected the lines to be long, maybe not that long," said LaVera Scott, director of the Lucas County BOE.
People in the line said at its peak they had to wait over three hours to get inside.
Nearly 80,000 people in Lucas County either voted early or via absentee ballots before Election Day, according to the Ohio Secretary of State's early voting dashboard.
It doesn't quite compare to 2020's numbers, though, which saw nearly 97,000 people use the early vote process. But that was during the pandemic and Scott said this year still set a new record.
"This year is the first election where I can state we had more people come and vote in person than we did by mail," she said. "I think it's the conformability for one, and more people are talking about the fact that they early vote. Also, candidates are pushing it."
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said this year's early voting process has been successful and that more than 2.5 million people casted ballots early.
It's not just changing the way we handle elections in Lucas County, Ohio's Secretary of State Frank LaRose said it's the same way across the state.
"That's well north of 30% of Ohio's voters. Ohioans trust it's a trustworthy process," he said.
"I'm happy to say once again, Ohio is ready for November. We're going to run an election tomorrow where it's easy to vote and hard to cheat," he added.
If the 2020 presidential election was your last time voting, there are some changes to keep in mind.
There are new identification requirements. You must bring a state or federal ID with you to show you're eligible to vote.
"It will be new for a lot of people, and we found that out at the early vote center," Scott said.
Scott said preparing ahead of time is beneficial, especially for ballot items like Issue 1 that have confused some voters.
"Anything to prepare yourself so you can get in and get out because you already did your research," she said.
Polls close at 7:30 p.m. Anyone in line by that deadline will still be able to cast a ballot.