WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Some voters waited in line for hours waiting to cast their ballots in-person early at the Luzerne County Elections Office in Wilkes-Barre.
October 27 is the last day for in-person voting until election day.
"We're off today. We have lot's of time we can just wait as long as we need to vote," said Jean Brubaker of Forty Fort. "Election day, we're working in the afternoon so we didn't want to take a chance, although we would just cancel work because that's how important we feel this election is."
The line didn't deter Ellen Rossi who's voted in every presidential race since she was 18.
"I'm a November 3rd voter, always," said Rossi.
She decided at the last minute to vote early.
"A few people I know have been diagnosed with COVID and they have no symptoms, aside from maybe loss of smell. I started to worry about, what if I wake up November 3rd and then can't come," Rossi explained.
People who already got mail-in ballots hustled past the lengthy line.
The others were applying for a mail-in ballot at the Luzerne County Elections Office, filling it out, then turning it in, all in person.
"Just with what's been going on, the post office, voter intimidation, things like that," said one Forty Fort voter.
The upcoming presidential race has drawn record highs for voter registration in Pennsylvania.
The Luzerne County Election Board has purchased a machine that will help them open sealed mail-in and drop-off ballots faster.
"That's going to cut down on a lot of hours that myself and my fellow board members spent. As back in the primaries, we spent over 60 hours just adjudicating ballots etcetera," said Election Board member Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt. "So I'm feeling positive that this is going to be a very safe and fair election."