Ebony Ford was 20 in 2004, plenty old enough to vote. But she didn't. 

"I thought it meant nothing," she said as she left Durham's Board of Elections for the first time this week. "This year ... it's a big difference: different senators, different options."

The Durham native is part of what's adding up to be a historic election across parts of North Carolina. A week from the election, more than 60,000 people have already voted early in Durham County. 

"We've had folks come in who haven't voted in 30 to 40 years," said Robin Lockhart, supervisor and chief judge of the One Stop Voting location at election headquarters. "We've had people who are 84 years old, 74 years old ... 71 years old that are coming in and voting for the first time in their life."

Durham County's director of elections, Mike Ashe, thinks it will all add up to numbers they've never seen before. By turnout during these last couple weeks of early voting, he's expecting anywhere from 90,000 to 100,000 will cast their ballots before Election Day. 

"There's 28 items on the ballot. It's just a huge election," Ashe said. "That coupled with people getting more and more informed about early voting and its convenience."

But overall, he suspects there could be a turnout of about 80 percent. Compare that to only 53 percent in 2000 and 73 percent in 2004. 

 "It's a very passionate election," Lockhart said. "History's going to be made."

Early voting ends Saturday. There are special extended hours here on Thursday and Friday. 

"Saturday's going to be tough," Lockhart said. "There's going to be a lot of people in line; so whoever can vote the rest of the week before the weekend will be great."

One Stop Early Voting started in 2000 when about 10,000 people showed up in Durham County. There were 46,000 in 2004. So a turnout that could double that number excites election officials working the polls. 

"First time voter," they yell every time a new registered voter feeds the ballot through a machine. The whole room claps. And for newcomers like Ebony Ford, that's something special.

"Today has been pretty exciting," she said. "So I wanted to rock the vote for my age group."

Related Links

1. NBC17 Decision 2008 Coverage