Supervisors of elections prepare for big voter turnout on Tuesday

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Thousands of workers are preparing to outfit hundreds of polling places with less than 24 hours until Election Day in Central Florida.

Orange County Supervisor of Elections staff will load up 36 trucks worth of supplies Monday morning to set up 247 polling places.

"In the afternoon once everything is delivered, our poll people will start setting everything up. Tables, chairs and all the extension cords and get ready for Tuesday morning," said Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles.

TRENDING NOW:

• Mother walks into Animal Kingdom Lodge claiming she was handed abandoned newborn, deputies say
• 11-year-old shoots, kills grandmother, self after he was asked to clean room, police say
• 15-year-old accused of strangling his mother in DeBary to remain in detention
• Video: Man accused in fatal Ocoee pedestrian crash posts bail

During the 2014 midterm elections, 72,000 people participated in early voting. This year, Orange County hit that total Wednesday last week.

Cowles expects the heavy turnout to continue Tuesday. To prepare, he hired 3,500 people to help the day run as smoothly as possible.

Throughout the year, Cowles office has a staff of 46 employees.

Statewide, nearly 3 million people voted early in person, according to the state division of elections. More than 2.3 million others voted by mail. There are 13 million registered voters in Florida.

That means there are still millions of voters able to head to the polls on Election Day, including voter Anna Carvajal.

Carvajal said she enjoys voting on Election Day.

"I like voting and I like talking to people in line. They make funny comments," she said.

READ: Central Florida Decides: The amendments, explained

Cowles said voting on Election Day comes with extra restrictions.

“On Election Day you have to go to your assigned polling location,” Cowles said. “So if you moved and you changed your address and you haven't changed it with us you may want to give us a call.”

Also, he said, think twice about mailing your ballot.

“At this point don't put your ballot into a mail box. You need to bring it to the elections office and turn it in here because a postmark does not count. They have to be in by 7 p.m. Tuesday night," Cowles said.

Instead, he said, you can use your mail-in ballot as a sample ballot.

“You can bring your mail ballot in and exchange it for a regular ballot and vote that way," Cowles said.

Cowles said the most popular times to head to the polls on Election Day are in the morning, at lunchtime and in the evening. To avoid the longest lines, Cowles recommends heading to the polls in the mid-morning or mid-afternoon.

Cox Media Group