'Record-breaking': Douglas County sees historic early in-person voting

    OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) -- Hundreds of people in Douglas County didn't want to wait the 29 days until the general election to vote in person.

"It's an honor to vote," said Douglas County voter Richard McWilliams. "It's great to be part of a great democracy."

Williams was one of the 465 people who voted in person on the first day of early voting in Douglas County.

"Record-breaking first day," said Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse.

That's 92 more than the same day in 2020 and more than triple the number of first-day early voters in 2022, according to Kruse.

Douglas County voter Jeanne Batchelder wanted to see how the line was and, despite its length, decided to vote on Monday.

"If there are any glitches or anything happens in the next month, I'll already have my vote in," she said. "I was just kind of psyched to vote today."

Both Batchelder and McWilliams said it was the race for president that brought them out early.

Early in-person voting is now available Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at county election offices in Nebraska until Nov. 4.

They'll also be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the two Saturdays leading up to the election, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3.

"I honestly didn't expect this today," Kruse said. "Usually, we don't see lines until a couple of weeks in."

The doors opened at 8:30 a.m. and by that time, according to Kruse, there were about 20 people waiting at the door.

By lunchtime, the line had stretched outside and around the building.

"This is going to be a robust election," Kruse said. "We could have record-breaking turnout in Douglas County. That always makes me happy."

This is the first general election with Voter ID, but Kruse said his staff reported no issues.

"Things have been going smoothly," he said.

Douglas County has also shipped out 97,495 mail-in ballots so far. About 13%, or 12,960, have been returned.

The last day to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 25.