Delawareans could vote early this year thanks to a bill signed in 2019 that took effect in January, and the the numbers are on par with expectations.
The final count won’t be in until the end of in-person voting, but over 4,000 early votes were counted as of 11 a.m. Monday.
Community Relations Officer for the Delaware Dept. of Elections Cathleen Hartsky-Carter says there are also 15,808 ballots from absentee or vote-by-mailers – and they’ll have the same early and mail-in windows in the general election.
“We've actually received a lot of positive feedback about early voting and we've really received no negative feedback about early voting," Carter said. "For each election, the early voting is going to be for a total of 10 days before an election. So early voting for the November 8 general election is going to start on October 28. And for the first five days of early voting, the early voting sites will be open 11am to 7pm.”
Carter says people like the convenience and flexibility that early voting allows.
“People were quick to express that they thought early voting was very convenient," she said. "They liked the fact that they could pick any voting site of the, you know, ones that are listed for their county and go ahead and vote there. They liked the individualized attention, they said there was plenty of parking, there were no lines.”
Sussex County drew the largest numbers at the polls with 2100 early votes cast. 800 voted early in Kent and 1384 in New Castle County.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Tuesday. The only statewide office with a primary is for Auditor of Accounts. Lydia York is the challenger to incumbent Kathleen McGuiness.
