MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The first day of early voting in Shelby County began Wednesday at 11 a.m.
Hundreds of voters in the county showed up to the polls to make sure their voices are heard in this year's election.
Some voters told ABC24 they prefer to wait in the long lines during early voting instead of Election Day, which is less than three weeks away.
Rachel Belz was one of the first people to vote at one of the 26 polling locations for early voting. She cast her ballot at Second Baptist Church located in East Memphis on Walnut Grove Road.
Belz said she was quite shocked to see the number of people who turned out to vote early.
"I'm really surprised by the large turnout today. I think it speaks volumes; people want a change and the past three and half years have been horrible. Our boundaries broken, inflations up, costs are up everywhere," Belz said.
Belz also brought her family to the vote as a way to make sure they are doing their civic duty.
"I thought it would be a great idea to bring my mom and sister, and the more people you bring with you, the more change you can have at the polls to effect the change of our nation," she said.
April Bizot was another Shelby County resident who took advantage of early voting. She said while the country's next president is on the ballot, she's hoping the gun control referendum passes.
"I'm definitely for the control. The assault style weapons should not be in the hands of anyone that shouldn't have them, so that was good to see," Bizot said.
Bizot said the voter turnout on the first day of early voting is a sign this election is important to a lot of taxpayers.
"I'm glad that Memphis is showing up early," she said.
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Haggart said voter turnout has been a lot higher than expected throughout the state.
"We're hearing that there's a heavy turnout already this morning...that's exciting to us," Haggart said. "We want every registered Tennessean to go cast their vote, because when you don't cast your vote, what you're doing is turning over the keys of power of government to those that do."
Linda Phillips with the Shelby County Election Commission said people who are participating in early voting should be prepared to wait a little longer than usual before casting their ballot.
"It's taking about 60 seconds longer than we had estimated, so per voter, that adds up," Phillips said.
Phillips said some of the longer wait times is due to voters reading and understanding the gun control referendum.
"Do your homework; make sure you've read the referendum if you live in the City of Memphis before you get here," she said.
Phillips said they do plan to add a few more machines inside of polling locations if lines continue to take longer than expected.