Who ever thought that early voting would become the cool thing to do?

Well, it may not have the cachet of checking out a hot up-and-coming band or hitting the hip new restaurant. But taking the time to cast your ballot before election day is a lot more popular in the Teche Area this year.

“We had 1,160 on Friday, then 1,053 on Saturday and 1,260 Monday,” said Iberia Parish Registrar of Voters Kristie Blanchard. “We usually average about 800 per day.”

The office is also seeing a high rate of return on its absentee mail-in ballots. Of the nearly 4,000 sent out last month, more than 1,600 were already returned before the early voting period opened. So far, as of Monday evening, almost 1,800 had been cast. (1,788)

For comparison purposes, in the November 2018 midterm election, there were a total of about 4,800 early ballots cast between in-person and mail-in combined. For this election, the early balloting has already eclipsed that number — with six more days of voting to go.

This year’s early balloting is on track to outpace the early vote in the 2016 presidential election as well, where more than 8,700 votes were cast in Iberia Parish.

In St. Mary Parish, more than 6,900 votes were cast during the early voting period for the 2016 presidential election. So far in this election, 5,040 have already been cast, making it possible that this year’s early voting will double 2016’s numbers.

Despite the partisan divide in the country, the mood at the Iberia Parish Courthouse was upbeat as voters waited in a socially-distanced queue for their turn at the voting machines. Blanchard played traffic controller, guiding people into the office and making sure that the six-foot spacing guidelines were followed.

“It’s been pretty smooth so far,” Blanchard said. On Tuesday afternoon, the crowd was steady, with anywhere from three to 10 voters in line at any given time.

Those voting together, like the Duplantis family, were allowed to forego the distance restrictions. New Iberia firefighter Alex Duplantis took a moment as he left the Registrar of Voters office to put one of the “I Voted” stickers on his son, Cain.

“Put out your hand,” he said, tapping the round sticker on the back of Cain’s hand like a temporary tattoo.

Iberia Parish Early Voting

Mail-in: 1,825

In person: 4,657

Total: 6,482

2016 total early ballots: 8,761

St. Mary Parish Early Voting

Mail-in: 1,000

In person: 4,040

Total: 5,040

2016 total early ballots: 6,935

EARLY VOTING

Early voting for the Nov. 3 presidential election opens today and will go on, except Sundays, until Oct. 27 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day at the Registrar of Voters office for your parish. Voters can still request absentee by mail ballots until 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 30.

WHAT YOU NEED:

In order to vote, each registered voter must have proper identification or fill out an affidavit verifying their identity.

HOW TO SEE YOUR BALLOT:

Voters can go to GeauxVote.com and click on the “View Sample Ballot and Polling Location” link, then click “Search by voter.” You’ll be prompted to type in your name, zip code and birth month. That will give you access to all of the races and initiatives you will be voting on, as well as other options like your voting location and options for editing your registration info.