Canyon County is expecting long voting lines until the polls close tonight, despite a campaign encouraging absentee and early voting.
County Representative Joe Decker said 11,000 people had cast their vote in person by noon today.
"A lot of people do like that Election Day experience," he said, "but again, that Election Day experience sometimes involves long lines and waits."
The county has exactly 112,359 registered voters and received roughly 21,000 absentee and early voting ballots. Decker said that's a much higher turnout than in the primaries.
"We saw wait times from 20 minutes to two hours on a two-page ballot in May," Decker said. "And this election, the ballot is four pages. So we were pushing voter education. Be prepared when you show up so you don't sit there and vote for a long time holding people up."
Decker says the busiest time at the polls are between 5 and 8 p.m. when people leave work.
"I think the most important thing to know is that if they are in line, they don't have to be in the doors of the polling location," he said.
"As long as you're standing in line and waiting to vote at 8 p.m. when the polls close, you'll be allowed to vote."
Registered voters in Canyon County need to drop off their absentee ballots at the Elections Office at 1102 E. Chicago, in Caldwell, before 8 p.m. tonight to be counted.
