Tri-town clerks are pushing early voting, and unless you want to wait in long lines on Election Day, it's not a bad idea.

This is the first year Massachusetts has allowed registered voters to cast their ballots early, which began today and runs through Nov. 4. Ballots can be cast at town halls or by mail.

“I've been doing everything I can to promote it,” Mattapoisett Town Clerk Cathy Heuberger said.

To get the word out, Heuberger sent a flyer home with elementary school kids. She's also working with the Council on Aging to encourage the elderly and those with mobility issues to avoid the lines and vote early. She stressed that no votes will be counted until Nov. 8.

Additionally, tri-town clerks filmed a PSA on early voting for ORCTV.

With only one precinct in each town and only one tabulation machine per precinct, there's likely to be bottlenecking both inside and outside polling stations.

Historically, Mattapoisett has had a high turnout for presidential elections, with the percentage of registered voters who come to the poles at 85 percent or higher from 2004 to 2012. This year's presidential election, however, has led more people to register to vote, and Heuberger expects more people will cast ballots this year.

If the standard 85 percent come out on Nov. 8, that will be 4,200 people in and out of Old Hammondtown School over 13 hours.

“It's going to be a crazy day,” Heuberger said.

Even with this information, she expects many will prefer the lines to early voting.

“I think a lot of people are traditional,” she said. “They want to see their ballot go in.”

And while the early voting option may be easier, Heuberger anticipates many will opt to vote as they've always done on Election Day.

“We just don't know what to expect. It could be a hundred people, it could be five hundred people.”

In Marion, there are 4,016 people registered to vote. This is an increase from the 3,925 registered voters from the 2012 election. This is also 415 more voters than were registered as of the primary election on March 1.

The 2012 election had an 83 percent turnout, with 53 percent of voters voting Democrat and 44 percent voting Republican.

Assistant Town Clerk Michele Bissonnette said she's already received 300 absentee ballots and is anticipating this election to be a busy, and contentious, one.

“I would be surprised if the turnout isn't big,” she said.

In Rochester, 4,407 people are registered to vote. That's a number Town Clerk Naida Parker is impressed by.

“Our town population has a little over 5,000 people, and there's over 4,000 people registered to vote,” she said. “So yes, I'm expecting a more enthusiastic response to this election.”

Rochester has also received 244 absentee ballots so far, almost double last time.

“If that's indicative of Election Day, that's a substantial increase,” Parker said.

However, because early voting is new, she isn't sure what kind of numbers to expect for that.

"I have nothing to base it on," she said. "But I've had a lot of people ask about it."

During the 2012 election, 3,146 people voted in Rochester, which was 78 percent of the 4,066 registered voters.

Even though more people want to vote, it doesn't mean everyone has decided which candidate they want to choose.

“People are coming in, staring at the ceiling and asking me who to vote for,” said Bissonnette.

Early voting information

In Marion, early voting can be done in person at the Town House in the Town Clerk’s Office at 2 Spring St. during the following dates and times: Monday through Thursday, 8-4:25 p.m. and Friday from 8-3:25 p.m.

To request an early voting ballot through the mail. Fill out an application and mail it to Town Clerk, 2 Spring St., Marion, MA 02738. The application is on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website, www.sec.state.ma.us/ele.

In Rochester, early voting can be done in person at the Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way, during the following dates and times: Monday, Oct. 24 through Friday, Oct. 28 from 9-12 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 24 from 5-7 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 31 through Friday, Nov. 4 from 9-12 p.m. and Monday, Oct. 31 from 5-7 p.m.

To mail an application, send it to the Town Clerk, 1 Constitution Way, Rochester, MA 02770.

In Mattapoisett, early voting can be done in person at Town Hall during the following dates and times: Oct. 24, 25, 27, 28, 31 and Nov. 1, 3, 4 from 8-4 p.m. and Oct. 26, Nov. 2 from 8-7 p.m. The Town Clerk will offer weekend hours on Oct. 29 from 10-2 p.m.

Mail an application to Town Clerk, P. O. Box 89, Mattapoisett, MA 02739.

An early voting ballot prohibits voters from casting a ballot at the polls on Election Day.