'Truly busiest ever' says judge in Republican enclave

What happens in O'Fallon 8 precinct, a Republican enclave within a solid Democratic county in a deep blue state, will not sway any big elections one way or the other.

But this precinct with 1,760 registered voters is experiencing the "truly busiest ever" election day.

So says Republican election judge Ed McGinley of O'Fallon.

He's not privy to the numbers of early and absentee votes cast, but as of around 3 p.m., 750 voters had voted at the polling place.

McGinley estimates the gross number of registered voters is likely 10 percent less than indicated.

"Kids are long gone, people have died," he said. "They don't scrub the lists."

In the first four hours polls were open, there were 100 voters an hour coming through the polling place, he said. The worst wait was one hour and 10 minutes, but the average has been around 20 minutes, McGinley said.

The busiest time is yet to come, he said.

"We haven't had our after work crowd," he said. "That's usually the busiest."