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"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\"></p>           Jefferson County experienced unprecedented voter turnout on Monday, Oct. 20, with nearly 5,700 Southeast Texans casting their ballots &ndash; a total that beats the 2004 general election by more than 2,000 votes.<br /> <br />\"Early voting is going extremely well,\" said County Clerk Carolyn Guidry during a phone interview. \"It's a record turnout &hellip; that far exceeds any turnout by 2,000 votes in a presidential election.\"<br /> <br />Only 3,500 Jefferson County residents voted early in the 2004 general election, compared to this year's 5,628 turnout. <br /> <br />\"I never remember having a first day like this,\" Guidry said. \"We have been preparing for this election for a year.\"<br /> <br />Guidry credits the high turnout to all the excitement being generated by presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. <br /> <br />\"We are seeing a lot of first time young voters,\" Guidry said. \"We've also seen an increase in college students applying for mail-in ballots this year.\"<br /> <br />Guidry said she expected another 5,000 early voters to cast their ballots on Tuesday. <br /> <br />To help regulate voter traffic, the county added two additional voting locations this year &ndash; bringing the total to 11. <br /> <br />\"With 11 early voting locations you can stop in &hellip; and vote anywhere in the county,\" Guidry said, adding the she would encourage people to vote early and avoid long lines on Election Day.<br /> <br />Guidry also said the county is prepared to hire extra people if the need arises. <br /> "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://setexasrecord.com/stories/510610063-young-voters-on-the-rise-in-record-setting-early-voting-in-jefferson-county>