Finally, early voting begins

After a campaign season with seemingly no end, early voting in Leon County begins Monday in the Nov. 8 general election.

And with turnout expected to be high, Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho is expanding early voting days and locations.

For the first time in the county's history, early voting will be held on the Sunday before the Tuesday election. And early voting will be held at seven locations, a first for a presidential election, as well as an eighth location on the final day.

"Given the large interest in this election, we've decided to provide additional early voting locations for the citizens," Sancho said. "So if we do have a record turnout on Election Day, they won't be inconvenienced at all."

Roughly half of Leon County voters cast ballots before Election Day, through mail ballots and early voting. As of Friday, nearly 12,000 voters had returned mail ballots, out of nearly 34,000 requested. Sancho says it's a sign early and mail ballot voting will break records.

He said he's hoping overall turnout will top 80 percent, which hasn't happened in Leon County since 2008, when President Barack Obama first was elected and nationwide turnout hit its highest level in 40 years.

"So we're preparing for a record turnout," Sancho said in a Friday interview. "And we've got the technology, we've got the trained staff. We are now just waiting for the citizens to begin voting early on Monday."

Early voting information

Early voting in Leon County runs through Sunday, Nov. 6 at seven locations:

• Leon County Courthouse, 301 S. Monroe St.

• B.L. Perry Jr. Branch Library, 2817 S. Adams St.

• Eastside Branch Library, 1583 Pedrick Road

• Fort Braden Branch Library, 16327 Blountstown Highway

• Lake Jackson Community Center, 3840 N. Monroe St., Suite 301

• Northeast Branch Library, 5513 Thomasville Road

• Woodville Community Center, 8000 Old Woodville Road

Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the courthouse and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the other locations.

Branch office voting

The Elections Office will hold a special day of branch office voting on Sunday, Nov. 6, at the Voting Operations Center, 2990-1 Apalachee Parkway. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Emergency vote by mail

Voters who can't make it to their precinct polling place can vote Monday, Nov. 7, and Tuesday, Nov. 8, at the Voting Operations Center on Apalachee Parkway or the County Courthouse downtown. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

General election voter turnout in Leon County

2008: 85.45 percent

2010: 60.05 percent

2012: 78.2 percent

2014: 56.99 percent

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.