Voters looking to beat possible Election Day lines got an early opportunity Saturday with the start of early voting.

Early voting for the Aug. 26 primary election kicked off this past weekend and runs through Saturday.

Eleven polling sites located throughout Lee County are open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Aug. 23

Those who take advantage of early voting can visit any of the designated polling locations.

“They still need to bring a photo ID,” Lee County Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington said.

Early voters who requested a mail ballot should also have their ballot on hand.

“They have to bring it with them and surrender them,” Harrington said.

It takes longer to process an electronic ballot if a voter does not turn over their mail ballot.

“It just makes it easier,” she said of surrendering the ballot to vote in person.

Voters who did not request a mail ballot should expect to receive a sample ballot in the mail.

“We also have sample ballots going out to every voter,” Harrington said, adding that a sample ballot will go to each individual this time as compared to one ballot per household. “It is very generic.”

Those who would like a mail ballot can request one up through today, Wednesday Aug. 20.

As of last Thursday, the Lee County Elections Office had mailed out 95,620, with 46,819 returned.

“So, there’s still a little bit of over half of them out there,” she said. “So if you have a ballot, fill it out and mail it in. Don’t wait until the last minute.”

Mail ballots must be received at the Lee County Elections Office by 7 p.m. Aug. 23.

“It’s very important for them to read the instructions that we provide with it,” Harrington said.

“They must sign the back of the envelope that they put the ballot in to mail it,” she added. “Power of attorney is not permitted for signing mail ballots.”

If time allows for it, voters will be notified if their envelope is received unsigned.

The ballots also must be placed in the designated envelopes that they come with. Harrington explained, for example, that a husband cannot put his mail ballot into his wife’s envelope and vice versa.

“We do pay the postage on the return envelopes,” she said. “It is already paid for.”

Harrington pointed out that there is some race in the primary for everyone.

“We have a lot of things that are going to be on the ballot for Republicans and Democrats,” she said.

All voters can cast a ballot in the non-partisan races, regardless of their registered party affiliation. Some will be decided in the primary, so they will not be on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

As of Thursday, there were 401,347 registered voters in Lee County. A total of 170,088 are registered as Republican and 114,688 are registered as Democrat, while 94,226 have no party affiliation.

For more information or the list of polling locations available for early voting, call the Lee County Elections Office at (239) LEE-VOTE (533-8683) or visit the website at: www.leeelections.com.

“If somebody has moved, it is very important that they get that information to us,” Harrington added.