Residents taking advantage of early voting in Lee County

FORT MYERS, Fla. —

People voting in Lee County are noticing long lines forming at polling locations like the Lee County Elections Center, surprised that so many people are using every last second to vote early.

"If we only voted on one day a year, one day, every four years, this line would be out to the out to the street," said John Blades.

Blades is grateful we can vote early to avoid possible longer lines on Election Day.

"I work Tuesday. I can't take off work to come over here and vote, so I was happy to get today off, and I'm glad I got a chance to come in here and take care of business," said Blades.

Business that people are taking seriously at the Lee County Elections Center off U.S. 41.

"Although it's kind of exciting, the lines can get really backed up, and you know, people have work and everything that they have to deal with, too. So the early voting is great, and it's really convenient," said Troy Clark, a voter from Cape Coral.

Lee County Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle told NBC2 on Thursday, that the large lines at the polling locations are usually in the morning, despite that, he said waiting times to vote are around 15 minutes.

"We're pushing 150 an hour through there, so the lines are moving, and as long as they're moving, people are happy, and they are moving," said Doyle.

So far, more than 200,000 people have voted early or by mail here in Lee County, with record numbers every day.

"We won't have long lines on Election Day. Our goal is to get people to vote by mail and early vote, eliminate those long lines like we had in 2012," Doyle said.

"You have to be able to take the time to vote, whether it takes 15 minutes, whether it takes an hour; we're all citizens of this country, so you've got to vote. It matters," said Clark.

The last day of early voting in Lee County will be on Saturday, with polls closing at 6 p.m.