It was a busy weekend at the polls for the first two days of early voting. Many polling places across New York state saw lines.

You could call it a record-breaking start to the voting season, but this year is far different by comparison to recent presidential election years. In 2020, the country was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. And in 2016, there was no early voting yet in New York state.

So, the seemingly record number of voters turning out over the weekend could be more of a baseline or even a precedent-setting event.

“We had an amazing weekend," said Democratic Monroe County Board of Elections Commissioner Jackie Ortiz talking about the way Monroe County kicked off voting for the 2024 election. "We have had a little over 30,000 individuals come out for the first two days of early voting. And absolutely, you know, killing the numbers versus the 2020 presidential, when we had about 18,000 total for the first two days.”

The turnout is similar in the rest of the state.

“Across the state, we saw huge numbers of turnout for both Saturday and Sunday," said Director of Public Information for the New York State Board of Elections Kathleen McGrath. "On Saturday, we had almost 380,000 voters early vote. And on Sunday about 326,000."

She adds that New Yorkers are new to the early voting game, as it only began in 2019.

“I think as folks across the state get more comfortable with it, there's more of an inclination to use it," McGrath said. "New Yorkers this year actually have more ways to vote than ever before.”

“Early voting seems to be finally catching on, and it is popular for folks because of the convenience, right? There are multiple locations, multiple days, and a number of different options for hours,” said Ortiz.

“So there's definitely that movement of people talking about it," said Republican Monroe County Board of Elections Commissioner Lisa Nicolay. "Not just Democrats. Not just young people. You know, I think that originally when this happened, it would be young people. They like to do things on their own time or whenever [they] squeezed into their schedule. It's really not it's still, I think, early voting. I mean, it's only day three for this year, but it's definitely trending, those traditional older voters, you know, 50+, 50 to 75. That's the biggest segment of the population that's really voting. So that's typical of an Election Day."

It's looking that way, with more than 700,000 voters casting ballots the first two days the polls opened, compared to about 420,000 four years ago.

But what will happen in the coming days is anyone’s guess.

“When there's a line, just pack your patience a little bit," McGrath said. "You know, that means your fellow community members are also showing up to cast their ballots. But with the nine days of early voting, plus Election Day. That theoretically disperses the crowd from just one day over 10. I would just encourage all New Yorkers, if you have any questions to contact your local county board [or] contact us here at the State Board."