West Virginia voters are heading to the polls to cast votes ahead of the Nov. 6 General Election.

Early voting started Wednesday and runs through 5 p.m. on Nov. 3. Polls will be open on Saturdays. Residents can check the early voting hours in their county on the Secretary of State's website at www.wvsos.com.

County clerks in the Ohio Valley said they’ve already seen hundreds of voters at courthouses by noon Wednesday. In Brooke County, voting officials said they already saw close to 100 voters and their doors had only been open a couple of hours.

Some residents said taking the time to vote early will save them time on Election Day.

 “It gives you a better option, and some people have to come in a group and this is a little easier. And many times if you're voting in one of the schools, there are a lot of steps. This is definitely handicapped-accessible,” said Katie Shaffer, of Beech Bottom.

In the 2008 election, more than 153,000 people cast early ballots in West Virginia, which was nearly, 22 percent of all of the votes cast in that election. Overall turnout was 58.7 percent.

New voter registration totals show there are more than 1.2 million registered voters in the state, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans 640,000 to 358,000. More than 222,000 people registered with no party affiliation.

Eleven West Virginia counties have more Republicans registered than Democrats, up from 10.

In Ohio, early voting started on Oct. 2 and ends on Nov. 5. The Ohio elections chief said 1.6 million residents are using the early voting options in the presidential battleground state, and more than 800,000 people have already cast ballots with two weeks to go until Election Day. Ohio is among 34 states, plus the District of Columbia, where people can vote early without giving a reason.

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