THOMASVILLE- Early voting for the November 5 General and Special Election is underway at the Thomas County Elections and Registration Office, where Elections Supervisor Frank Scoggins has seen a massive turnout.

Early voting opened on October 15, when 1,757 Thomas County voters flocked to the polls en masse.

The following afternoon saw 1,615 voters. Early voting on Thursday saw a small dip in numbers with 1,376 voters turning out, but an uptick of 1,533 on Friday. The first Saturday of early voting saw 652 voters cast their ballot, totaling 7,339 early votes, including absentee ballots returned by mail.

“Sometimes you don’t really know what to expect,” Scoggins said regarding the early voting turnout. “I really geared up for the Sheriff’s race and it was a flop, but this has been a lot of people.”

Scoggins went on to say he had a feeling it would be a lot of people but never expected this many early voters this quickly.

Additionally, Scoggins has had numerous family members bring in their relatives’ absentee ballots, which he is more than happy to process.

“I let caregivers bring them in too, because if the only family they have is a caregiver, then I accept that,” he said.

Scoggins did explain he asks those turning in the ballot what their relation is to the voter and reviews the information on the ballot to make sure the names align.

“We don’t try and push the issue too much, but we do ask,” he said. “We haven’t really had any issues.”

With the number of early voters and absentee ballots already cast, Scoggins joked there wouldn’t be anyone left to vote on Election Day.

“Of the percentage that votes, we usually get about 65-70% during early voting,” he said.

As individuals continue to early vote, Scoggins and his dedicated team are working to make sure everyone is registered.

“Back on Oct. 7, which was the final day of registration, they dumped about 20,000 applications at the Secretary of State’s office, and it’s rolled down,” Scoggins said. “We’ve had to backdate when the Secretary of State stamped it, not when we got the application.”

Scoggins has also been working with other local elections offices, who may have received Thomas County’s applications mistakenly to ensure everyone can vote come Election Day.

“It’s been crazy,” he said. “We underestimated how much help we would really need, but my team has been great and we’ve been moving everyone through as quickly as we can. I am really proud of them.”

Early voting will continue through November 1, with an additional Saturday voting on October 26.

“I encourage early voting, it’s my passion,” Scoggins said. “We have all the resources at the Elections Office.”

Come Election Day, voters must vote at their home precinct polling place.