(BUCHANAN COUNTY, Mo.) More than 7,050 voters in Buchanan County have already cast a ballot in the Nov. 3 election.

Of that number, Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey estimated well over a 1,000 Buchanan County voters cast an absentee ballot from the comfort of their car this week.

Before curbside voting started on Monday, she reported more than 5,015 residents had already voted by mail-in or absentee ballot. By comparison, that is nearly 10 percent of the overall voter turnout in November 2016.

In addition to in-person absentee voting at the clerks' office, election officials offered curbside absentee voting Monday, October 26 through Thursday, October 29 outside the Remington Nature Center and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

“People are loving this, you know it’s been an experience,” Baack-Garvey said. “We learned early how busy it would be and now we are ready on the last day of course but it has been an amazing turnout.”

It was the clerk’s office's first time putting on a four-day curbside voting event. Election judges and county clerk staff working curbside voting zig-zagged between cars for hours in cold temperatures to get votes processed.

“I bet we have had over 600 voters here today,” Baack-Garvey said. “We still have time left. I think it’s going to help alleviate a lot of election pressure on election day.”

Buchanan County voters can still cast absentee ballots in person outside the clerk’s office until the close of business on Monday, November 2.