ROCK ISLAND, Ill. —
It was the first day of early voting in Illinois, including Rock Island County.
Lesley Meier waited in line to cast her ballot for the presidential election.
She says it didn’t take long at all. “Eight minutes, not long at all. It was very quick.”
Meier says she is still very cautious about going out in public with the pandemic going on, but this was special.
“This was worth it!” Meier said.
Cheryl Draeger felt the same way, making sure to get her vote in sooner rather than later. “I wanted to make sure I get it in.”
Chief deputy county clerk Nick Camlin says they’ve been preparing for a big crowd to come through.
“I don't think people could wait to vote. As we look to the future, we don't know what could happen so we want to get it done and out of the way and today's the first day that we can do that.”
Around midday around 200 to 300 voters had come through the County Clerk’s Office. Camlin says normally they see just a handful of people on the first day of early voting.
“Ever since we opened the doors at 8 o’clock it's been a line of at least 50 people clear out to our security checkpoint.”
Camlin says to expect a line but understand that voting is safe. There are a lot of new precautions in place to ensure it.
“The social distancing markings that are on the floor. They'll see more shields between where they check in and where the election workers are.”
There are also shields between all eight of the election booths currently set up.
Thursday September 24th is also the first day for ballots to be sent out by mail. If you requested one of those you can expect to see it sometime soon, starting the 25th.
Camlin says, “Vote by mail is a safe option as well.”
The County Clerk’s Office has been preparing for this since the primaries in March.
Those happened right as the pandemic took shape and started to affect day to day life.
“In those days leading up to that election, it was we're going to need to expect a huge influx of people wanting to vote before election day either safely or from home.”
The county clerk’s office says they prepared for that influx.
They want to make sure everyone can vote safely, no matter how they choose to do so.
Meier saying, “Don't hesitate your vote matters, so just please get out and vote.”
Early voting at the County Clerk’s Office will happen every Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm until October 16th.
Starting October 19th there will be extended hours until November 2nd from 8:00am to 7:00pm Monday through Friday.
A second early voting location will also open on October 19th at the Western Illinois University campus.