SAN DIEGO (CBS8) - The election is less than two weeks away and millions of votes have already been cast across the nation, including here in San Diego.
Early voting is well underway at the San Diego County Registrar of Voters where there is a continual stream of voters throughout the day. Already, nearly a quarter-million people have cast their ballot either by mail or in person.
“We know there are many more in the hands of voters,” said Michael Vu, San Diego Registrar of Voters.
Currently, 235,000 ballots have been submitted. It's estimated there are still around 765,000 ballots left to cast. However, that's well above pace compared to 2012 and 2008.
"I anticipate that number is only going to increase and that gap getting wider as voters are mailing the ballot and getting it back to us,” said Vu.
Inside the Registrar, voters also have the option to use a touch screen instead of the traditional paper ballot.
"Here at our facility we also have to serve people with disabilities and we have a number of touch screen voting units that can be used regardless whether you have a disability or not. It's for everyone,” said Vu.
Because there is only one touch screen, lines to use it are expected to be long. However, voters still have the option to use the traditional paper ballot.
"What it does is allow us to confirm the results of the electronic votes are the same as what the voter had verified,” said Vu.
The Registrar expects that more than 85% of registered San Diego County voters will vote on or by November 8th. Only 84% of registered voters cast a ballot in 2008.
"We have a very robust electorate. We certainly want to see that in this upcoming election as well,” said Vu.
Early voters are also first in line to have their votes counted. Those results remain private until the polls close.
"The sooner you can get that mail ballot back to us the better it is because then we cans tart processing. In fact starting this past Tuesday we started taking out ballots and scanning them into the system,” said Vu.
If you have a mail-in ballot, you can also chose to vote in person, but you must bring your original ballot with you.