Approximately nine voting machines are set up on the second floor of the Colquitt County Courthouse Annex for early voting. On Friday, all nine were in use with more voters coming in the door.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — As is the case for the state as a whole, Colquitt County voters are showing mass enthusiasm in the upcoming election, with early voting numbers surpassing those usually seen in presidential election years.

As of about 3:10 p.m. Friday some 1,460 voters had cast ballots at Colquitt County Courthouse Annex, where early voting will continue for two more weeks.

Those numbers are even greater than those in the 2008 and 2016 presidential elections that generated significant interest and voter turnout.

This fall Georgians will elect a new governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state, as incumbents in those offices either are prohibited by term limits from seeking another term or are involved in races for other offices. Secretary of State Brian Kemp, for example, is running to replace outgoing Gov. Nathan Deal.

“It’s getting the look of a national general election, having a changing of the guard at several levels,” said Colquitt County Probate Judge Wes Lewis, whose office oversees elections.

 The ballot also contains contested races for the Public Service Commission, which while not considered an exciting position is the body that sets utility rates for millions of customers in the state; and a number of constitutional amendments.

There is only one local contested race — that between District 1 Colquitt County Commissioner Barbara Jelks and Republican Stacey Williams. Jelks, a Democrat, won an election earlier this year to complete the unfinished term of the late Commissioner Luke Strong Jr.

Demand for mail-in absentee ballots also has been strong, Colquitt County Voter Registrar Paula McCullough said. As of Friday she had fielded 480 requests for those ballots, and some completed ballots already had been mailed back to her office.

The more than 1,400 voters who have turned up for in-person early voting over a five-day period is phenomenal, Lewis and McCullough said.

“It’s a record for us,” McCullough said. “We’ve never had that many in five days.”

In contrast, fewer than 1,000 county residents cast ballots in the entire three weeks of early voting in a runoff in July.

“It’s been a steady flow,” McCullough said. “Maybe (there was) a time or two when there was nobody in the room.”

At one point on Friday while a reporter was at the polling location all nine or so voting machines set up in the Courthouse Annex building were occupied and other voters were coming in to get in line.

“I wasn’t expecting this at all,” McCullough said. “This is more than the last presidential election.”

Voters can cast ballots on the second floor at the Courthouse Annex Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., and on Oct. 27, a Saturday, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

A state-issued photo identification or U.S. military identification is required to vote.

Those who send in absentee ballots by mail must fill out the information on the outside of the envelope before doing so in order for it to be valid, McCullough said. That includes printing the voter’s name and filling out the address and signature lines.

Election day is Nov. 6, when polls will be open at the county’s 19 precincts from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.