Early voting nearing record numbers in Madison County

EDWARDSVILLE - Madison County Clerk Debra Ming-Mendoza said the county is going "gang busters" with early voting this year.

On the first day of November, Ming-Mendoza said early voting had already reached higher numbers than she has seen in her administration, adding the numbers are approaching the record amounts of 2008. As of Tuesday morning, she said 16,673 people had already voted in Madison County. 

"That's an amazing number," she said. 

Ming-Mendoza's numbers were not live updated, however. They are updated periodically as voters are processed. As she looked out of her office, she said she saw as many as 10 additional voters Tuesday, which will increase that number. Her office is one of many early voting stations constantly processing voters. 

"We try to make sure everyone who wishes to vote has the opportunity," she said. 

These numbers have caused early voters to wait in line. Ming-Mendoza said some voters on Sunday waited as long as 96 minutes to cast their votes. 

"I did not have one voter complain about the wait," she said. "At least they didn't complain to me, and I was there all day." 

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Each voter takes about a minute and a half to process, she said. 

Those early voting numbers do not include the 6,000 vote-by-mail applications requested from the county, nor do they include residents of nursing homes who are going to cast their votes this Friday and Saturday with Democrat and Republican election judges present.

People who wish to vote, but have not registered, are still able to do so. The county's online registration site shut down on Oct. 23. Unregistered voters still wishing to cast their votes may still go to early voting stations or even register on election day. Ming-Mendoza said registration requires a minimum of two forms of identification, including one with a current address. 

"You can bring a driver's license and even a student I.D.," she said. 

Early voting will continue at temporary polling places around the county until this coming Sunday at 4 p.m. After that, only three sites will be available on Monday; one in Granite City, one in Alton and one in Edwardsville. 

The temporary voting sites include:

• The Bethalto Village Hall, located at 213 N. Prairie St. in Bethalto
• The Collinsville Senior Citizens Center, located a 420 E. Main St. in Collinsville
• Lewis and Clark Community College Ahlemeyer Atrium Trimpe Advanced Technology Center in Godfrey
• Latzer Memorial Public Library, located at 1001 9th St. in Highland
• The Madison Fire Station, located at 1800 3rd St. in Madison
• The Troy City Hall, located at 116 E. Market St. in Troy
• The Wood River Township Hall, located at 33 S. 9th St. in East Alton

Those sites' hours are weekdays between Oct. 24-Nov. 4 from noon-6 p.m. Saturday hours are 9 a.m.-3 p.m. 

The Willow Room at Morris University Center at SIUE operates weekdays Oct. 24- Nov. 1 from noon-5 p.m. and Nov. 2-Nov. 4 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 

Sites open until election day include: 

• The Madison County Administration Building, located at 157 N. Main St. in Edwardsville 
• The Alton Law Enforcement Center, located at 1700 E. Broadway in Alton 
• The Township Building, located at 2060B Delmar Ave. in Granite City. 

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