Last chance to vote early

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - If you thought you'd vote in the days leading up to Election Day, think again.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted is advising counties to cut off early voting at 6 p.m., Friday November 4th because of a new law.

But even with that change, election officials are seeing some historic numbers from early voters.

"It's a trend that's been happening since 2008 that more voters are participating in early in-person absentee and absentee by mail," says Steve Harsman, Director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections.

Harsman thinks 10 to 15 percent of votes cast this year are expected to be early ones, despite the fact that Montgomery County didn't offer weekend hours for this election season.

"I think that number would have been higher if we had extended hours," Harsman says. "It's something I think the board needs to reconsider next year because of the numbers we experienced in 2008."

Next year's presidential election may seem like a long time away, but it's never far from the minds of election workers who view this year as a test run of sorts for 2012.

"Every decision we make is geared toward that," Harsman says.

2 News looked into a couple of things you should know about voting this year.

If you're voting absentee the ballot needs to be postmarked on Monday at the latest, or you can hand deliver your ballot to the Board of Elections on Election Day.

If you're voting on Election Day, turnout is supposed to be 48 to 50 percent, which is a little higher than normal for an odd year election.

You likely won't see long lines, but you probably won't get in right away either.