Early voting is in full swing in Delaware with voter turnout already far surpassing the entire 2022 early voting period.
In 2022, about 55,500 people voted early over 10 days. As of Monday, over 106,000 people have voted early with six days remaining.
Sussex County has seen the highest early voting turnout, with almost 55,000 people casting ballot through Tuesday. New Castle County is seeing the second highest turnout behind Sussex, with nearly 33,000 ballots cast over the first five days.
Early voters leaving the Appoquinimink State Service Center in Middletown waited on average an hour and 15 minutes Tuesday to cast their ballot in the General Election.
Middletown retirees Tim and Diane Denbleyker say the presidential race drew their attention this year, with border security and inflation driving their decision to vote straight-ticket Republican.
“There are way too many people here that are living paycheck to paycheck. And even us — we don't have a problem, thank the lord — but I see our bill going up for nothing. We go in for a few things, and it's $125," Diane said.
But for Danielle Cinderella from Townsend, her young children and protecting women’s reproductive rights are behind her vote.
“The fact that I am a woman of childbearing age — I have friends, family also that are, and I want my vote to count," she said.
Several residents cited the presidential election as their main reason for heading to the polls, but Middletown’s Sissie Shook expressed discontent with campaign smearing at the local and national level.
She finds attack mailers and TV ads very misleading this year and believes money plays too big of a role in who can run for office.
“[I'm] just tired of it all. People should not lie — just give us the facts. This is what I'm for — one says this and the other says they're against it. So you don't know who to believe. So you're not getting, I don't think, as much accurate information as I would like anyway," Shook said.
She says she is appalled by Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk promoting a $1 million giveaway to Pennsylvania voters who sign a petition supporting constitutional freedoms.
Musk — a public supporter of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump — is being sued by the Philadelphia District Attorney for the stunt.
"Send it to the people down south that have lost everything," Shook said, referring to those affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. "What is wrong with our world that we have to buy our politicians?"
Some voters still remember the contentious Democratic gubernatorial primary, which prompted an unprecedented amount of attack mailers and TV ads against candidate Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, who was found to have violated several campaign finance laws during her campaign.
New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer ended up winning the Democratic nomination for governor with 47% of the vote and now faces Republican State Rep. Mike Ramone in the General Election.
Middletown's Cabot Wright says he and his wife voted for Hall-Long in the Primary Election but are comfortable now casting their ballot for Meyer.
"We're okay with that. I read some of the things he was for as well, so it sounds good," Wright said.
Wright was among several voters who said they decided to vote early to beat the Election Day rush.
"[We're here] to make sure we get our vote in and not have to worry about it on Election Day because I'm not sure what that's going to be like, but we thought we'd try and get an early vote in," he said.
After casting his ballot Tuesday, George of Middletown said when he saw reports of how long the early voting lines have been, he assumed they would only continue to grow.
"It took about an hour and 20 minutes, so I can only imagine what it's going to be like on Election Day, and voting is an important responsibility in a Democratic system," he said.
George joined other voters in noting inflation is at the forefront of his mind this election season.
"For Delaware in particular, I think it's definitely economics — being a senior citizen that's definitely top of the list. I think the border is another important issue, but it's about how we treat people and recognizing what America is about really."
Early voting continues Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and then hours extend from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Nov. 3.
You can find early voting locations and General Election polling locations on the Delaware Department of Elections website here.
You can also find what district you're located in by using this tool.
