Voters have cast 22,389 early in-person ballots, with 43,358 total votes cast as of 11:46 a.m. Oct. 29, Lake County Elections Board officials have confirmed, adding 8,088 absentee (“by-mail”) outstanding request ballots have yet to be returned. As part of the early in-person total, Director Dante Lewis said the office had a historic day Oct. 28, with 2,023 voters. “We’ve had a steady flow throughout the entire voting cycle, as anticipated, and even when we’ve experienced long lines, wait times have been minimal, roughly 25 minutes, even when the line extended outside of the building,” he added. “In-office early voting is on pace to exceed over 30,000.” Early voting began Oct. 8 and closes at 5 p.m. Nov. 3. Lewis stressed that no on-site voting at the Lake County Administration Center will take place Nov. 5. Lake County boasts 56 polling locations, and Elections Board records show the county has 165,597 registered voters. Lake County residents can also take Laketran’s Local Routes 1-9 or a door-to-door Dial-a-Ride trip free to their polling locations on Election Day through the agency’s “Vote and Ride” program. “We ask all voters to please make sure their forms of identification are valid when going to the polls on Election Day or when coming to vote for the remainder of early voting,” Lewis said, adding the postmark deadline for mailed absentee ballots is Nov. 4. Forms of identification that may be used include: • An Ohio driver’s license, state identification card, or interim identification form issued by the registrar of motor vehicles or a deputy registrar; Note: An Ohio driver’s license or state identification card with an old or former address is acceptable as a valid form of identification necessary to cast a regular ballot when the voter’s current address is printed in the poll book • A United States passport or passport card or a United States military identification card, Ohio National Guard identification card, or United States Department of Veterans Affairs identification card “Ballots may also be returned to the Elections Board (105 Main St. in Painesville) or the Elections Board Dropbox until 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5, which is when polls close,” Lewis said. The board’s dropbox is open 24/7 and is under video surveillance. Bipartisan teams empty the box several times throughout the day. “As always, we want to commend everyone who has been a part of this election cycle, from full-time employees to seasonal employees to our dedicated group of poll workers out there on Election Day,” Lewis said. “And we continue to receive so much positive feedback from the general public regarding the efficiency of our early voting process.” Deputy Director Amy Kistner noted about 900 precinct election officials will be working on Election Day, in addition to 55 seasonal election workers. For more information, call 440-350-2700, 800-899-5253 or visit www.lakecountyohio.gov/boe/.