GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) - Voters have already started casting ballots for the November 6th election. Absentee ballots by mail have been available since September 20th. In-person absentee voting starts Monday. With such high interest, area clerks are expecting high turnout.

The vault at the Green Bay City Clerk's Office is filling up fast. It's where returned absentee ballots are kept until election day. According to clerk Kris Teske, the office has already received 3,875 absentee ballots in the mail. Back in 2008, they saw 4,400 absentee ballots total, both by mail and in-person.

"We're almost there as far as matching the mailing portion of the whole election in '08," Teske said.

That's why she is expecting long lines come Monday.

Also, new this presidential election, voters don't need a specific reason to vote absentee, and in-person absentee voting takes place over two weeks instead of three.

"Now if we have that many or more, it's all squished into two weeks," added Teske. "So it's going to be busy."

Local 5 checked in with some neighboring municipalities. In Bellevue, 362 absentee ballots have already been returned. In De Pere 686 ballots have been returned.  Both clerks said they're on pace to higher absentee numbers than four years ago.

In Appleton, just over 900 absentee ballots have been returned. According to clerk Char Peterson, in 2008, more than 9,000 ballots were cast absentee. She said it's a lot of ground to make up, but she's hopeful.

"I'm thinking that could be close," Peterson said. "There is a high interest and we could very well see that so I am predicting the same thing that happened in 2008."

All the clerks said they are prepared for Monday's rush. They'll have extra staff on hand, but they do ask voters to be patient and expect long lines.

For more information on absentee voting, click here.