LIMA, OH (WLIO) - The League of Women Voters of the Lima Area gathered at the Lima Public Library.

According to one Allen County polling location, it's no typical Election Day. At First Baptist Church on Cable Road, there are three precincts with about 3,000 registered voters, and they are seeing a larger-than-normal turnout this morning. They saw 45 people lined up when the polls opened at 6:30 a.m. and have already surpassed the total number of voters they saw in the primary.

The 2024 presidential election is only hours away, and the nation will either elect former President Donald Trump or elect Kamala Harris as the first female to the office of president of the United States. In Ohio, nearly 2.5 million people have already voted with in-person early voting and absentee ballots. Allen County saw just about 18,000 registered voters cast their ballots early. Those coming to the polls on Election Day need to remember to bring their identification.

Besides the other early voters already in line, the Lima Area Black Ministerial Alliance held "Souls to the Poll" to encourage people to cast their ballots in the November 5th election.

With just a week to go before Election Day, early voting numbers are hitting record numbers in parts of the nation. Nearly 1.7 million Ohioans have voted early. Around 941,000 of those are in person. 1.1 million Ohioans have requested absentee ballots, and nearly two-thirds have been returned. That return rate for absentee ballots tends to be higher in our area. Hardin and Logan counties top that list at 73%, followed closely by Mercer and Van Wert counties at 72%. One local county stands out though; only 41% of the 10,000 Allen County voters who requested an absentee ballot have returned those.

Election Day is just around the corner, but there's still plenty of time to cast your vote. Expanded early voting hours are kicking off around the state. That begins with two weekends of in-person early voting starting tomorrow (October 26, 2024) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and this Sunday (October 27, 2024) from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at your board of elections. The state mandates that each county offer specific expanded early voting hours through November 3rd. The hope is to provide voters plenty of options to make casting their ballot more convenient.