ST. PETERS, Mo. — Turning into the St. Charles County Election Office Monday during the lunch rush, Carolyn Hanneken joked about the crowds.
"I hope you can find a parking spot," she said.
From her car, Judith Mullins scanned the line at the front door saying "it went from the door all the way down the sidewalk."
Election organizers said the big story heading into Tuesday is the turnout.
"We are seeing almost 2020-level numbers of voters for the last couple of days. We had 2200 people come in on Friday. 800 people on Saturday," St. Charles County Director of Elections Kurt Bahr said. "We have already had more absentee voters in this election than we did in the 2018 midterm election, and we might actually surpass the 2016 presidential election as far as absentee voters."
Bahr said that's likely because of Missouri's new no-excuse absentee voting rule.
"I think for the most part people don't like lying when they say 'Hey, I'm going to be out of town,' just because they want to avoid the lines," he said.
For those turning out, they say they're happy to wait.
"I'm just out to put my vote in and know that I did what I was supposed to do," Rochelle Moore said.
And Mullins said she's encouraged to see others doing the same.
"It makes me think that we need a change. And it makes me think that people want to be more involved and have finally realized how important midterm elections are," she said.