Early voting is bringing out crowds that could set a new turnout record, an election official said Oct. 31.

“We didn’t expect this kind of turnout,” said Kenneth “Bo” McDowell, director of Sussex County Department of Elections.

Early voting began Oct. 25 and has now expanded its hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Sunday, Nov. 3. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, in-person voting will be held at polling places throughout the state from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

In an Oct. 31 interview, McDowell said more than 66,000 Sussex County residents had already voted. “It will be over 70,000 by the end of the day,” he said.

Sussex County numbers are higher than New Castle and Kent counties, which had posted 54,765 and 18,637 at the time.

A breakdown of the Sussex County early voting sites Oct. 31 showed the American Legion Post 28 leading the vote tallies with 10,322. It was followed by 10,136 voters at the Midway location, 8,792 in Millville, and 8,690 at the Rollins Center in Lewes. The rest of the county followed with 6,830 in Roxana, 6,274 in Ellendale, 5,232 in Georgetown, 5,172 in Seaford and 4,390 in Laurel.

About 11,000 absentee ballots had been received as of Oct. 31.

“These numbers are huge, more than the rest of the state combined,” McDowell said.

At this rate, he said, he expects the total turnout to reach 70%, which would be a new record. The turnout was 68.7% in 2020.

There was no early voting in the 2020 presidential election, but for the 2022 midterm election, McDowell said, there were about 27,000 early votes cast with an overall turnout of about 45%.

For the Sept. 30 primary, he said, the turnout was 13%.

Candidates have shown up at area voting sites, and the rule requiring candidates to stand 50 feet from the door is in place, McDowell said. 

“We’re treating it just like every other Election Day,” he said.