More than 10,000 Monroe County residents have cast ballots in person ahead of next week’s general election, surpassing the county's early voting pace during the 2022 midterms.

According to the county's early voting dashboard, 10,065 ballots had been cast through last Saturday. That's ahead of the approximately 7,400 recorded during the same period in 2022, but below the roughly 14,000 cast in 2018.

Monroe County Chief Deputy Clerk Tanner Branham said election officials anticipated higher turnout this year.

"I think turnout has been exceptional this year, and we're really excited about that," Branham said. "I think that, as it being just such a contentious political environment right now, that's really what's driving turnout."

Branham said the dashboard only includes in-person early voting and does not account for mail-in ballots already received by the county.

"I think that by the time Election Day rolls around, I think that we will almost certainly match or exceed that 2018 turnout," Branham said.

Early voting has generally increased since it began Oct. 6. Last Friday was the busiest day so far, with 998 ballots cast.

"We kind of increase the number of workers that we have at Election Central as it gets closer to Election Day because we expect those numbers to increase," Branham said.

He said the higher turnout hasn't caused significant operational problems.

One change this year is the location of early voting.

The county moved voting operations from the former NAPA building downtown, which is being converted into part of the convention center, to the north end of the Showers Building.

Branham said the space was designed specifically for early voting, with improved traffic flow and parking.

Early voting continues through noon Monday, Nov. 2, with Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Voters can find voting hours and location information on the Monroe County early voting dashboard.