Hundreds of motivated southeastern Connecticut residents lined up outside community centers, town halls and other polling sites across the region Monday morning to take advantage of the first day of early voting in the state.

At New London City Hall, roughly 20 residents stood in the municipal building lobby about 15 minutes before for the 10 a.m. start of early voting, which will continue in all Connecticut voting locations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Nov. 3, with extended hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 29 and 31.

Voters can also register to vote during early voting, can vote by absentee ballot and can vote in person on Election Day.

New London resident Brian Inkel, 56, said he brought a couple of his neighbors with him to cast early ballots.

“It’s less traffic than voting on Election Day and I’m hoping this option might bring people in who might not otherwise vote,” he said

Though it’s new to Connecticut this year, 46 other states already offer some form of early voting.

Moderator Fallyn Fonville-Smith greeted the New London voters and thanked them for their “patience and waiting,” a statement that drew cheers from the crowd.

Each polling site was configured differently to handle both early voting and same-day registration. In New London, the lobby area was set aside for pre-registered voters and featured a check-in desk, a ballot clerk station and a four-sided vote-casting table. Three ballot boxes ― one for each of the city’s voting districts ― sat in a separate meeting room.

On the second floor, dedicated to registering voters, more desks and another partitioned voting table were placed not far from the registrars’ office.

Taking the pressure off

Democratic Registrar of Voters Rich Martin said pre-registered voters will have their identities checked and recorded before being provided with a ballot and envelope. After making their candidate choices, voters seal their ballots into envelopes and place them into a secured holding box.

“Those ballots will be scanned on Election Day with all the other ballots, except those with write-in candidates, which will be hand-counted,” Martin said.

Those residents registering to vote will be asked to fill out a registration card that will be checked by the registrars’ office before a ballot is provided.

“We’ve been preparing for (early voting) all year,” Martin said. “The hope is, this early voting takes the pressure off us on Election Day when we expect a robust turnout because of the presidential election.”

By 2:45 p.m., more than 200 voters cast ballots in New London. Martin said “four or five” voters also registered.

Martin said any election with presidential candidates invariably leads to a higher number of voters.

“That could mean a 100% increase, from the 2,000 to 5,000 voters we see in non-presidential election year to up to 10,000 voters,” he said.

The two weeks of early voting means polling sites will have to be manned for a much longer period. In New London, that means at least eight election workers – moderator, registrar, ballot clerks and others – will be working the polling sites.

“We got a small state grant, but it’ll still cost us about $20,000 just for the personnel costs,” Martin said. “I do think the early voting is a great opportunity to create a deeper engagement with voters with the election. Voters can’t always get Election Day off to vote and this gives them several chances to find a window to vote.”

Excited voters line-up in Stonington

At the Stonington police station on Broad Street in Pawcatuck, more than 30 residents were in line to vote by 10 a.m. Peg Young, 83, said she’d been doing some laundry at the laundromat across the street when she realized early voting was poised to begin.

“I just want to get it done,” she said.

Sandra Farwell also said she was ready to get her voting responsibilities over with.

“I’m just anxious for the election to be over so my stomach settles,” she said.

As in New London, Stonington’s Democratic Registrar of Voters Elissa Bass said her team has spent months getting ready for early voting with extra money allotted in the town’s budget this year to cover the new costs.

Bass said 275 voters cast ballots in the first two hours of voting on Monday.

“I don’t think we’ll see those numbers every day, but it was amazing to see people so excited to vote early,” she said.

Poll workers scramble at first

In Norwich, the line for early voting started before polls opened at 10 a.m. and during the first hour, it stretched down the hall on the third floor of City Hall. Registrars said dozens of voters cast their ballots in the first hour, estimating the total at more than 100 voters.

Republican Registrar Dianne Slopak thanked voters for their patience, as poll workers scrambled for the first few minutes to nail down the complicated process.

“We had a rough start the first few minutes,” Slopak said. “People were very patient, gave us time to get into the groove.”

Although Norwich has one location for early voting at City Hall, the city has six voting precincts on Election Day. Voters coming to vote early must identify their specific voting precinct. Ballots cast were divided among the six voting precincts and a seventh collection for voters who registered to vote on the day they came to the polls.

Janice and Victor Rizzo arrived at the Norwich polling place after the initial rush and found no line.

“I think it’s great,” Janice Rizzo said. “It’s such a beautiful day, I said ‘let’s just go vote. Why wait till November? It might rain. We could be standing outside.”

Norwich voter Ruth Ouimet said the election workers were polite and helpful Monday.

Norwich has hired 14 election workers for each early voting day. The cost is part of the registrars’ $268,000 budget for this year, an increase of $68,000. Norwich received an $8,000 grant, but that would fall far short of covering the added cost, Slopak said.

Preston also was busy at the start of Monday’s early voting, with 25 voters casting ballots at the town library ― more than voted during the entire four days of early voting for the presidential preference primary in March, election workers said.

Lines may die down

In Groton, by just before 11:30 a.m., at least 100 people had come in for early voting, said Democratic Registrar of Voters Jeanne Rogers. The line started outside the Community Center Building, where the Voter Registration Office is housed, and continued into the building. Chairs were provided for people who needed them.

Rogers said the town was expecting a steady turnout, but not such a line, with at least 40 to 50 people in line during late morning. She explained the early voting process is a little longer, and may take voters about five minutes, versus two minutes on Election Day. There were three computers to check people in and out.

She added that she doesn’t anticipate this level of turnout for all 14 days, as the lines may die down after the first couple of days.

The town has been planning for early voting since last year, and 11 people, plus a registrar, are working each of the early voting days, said Rogers.

“It gives people more of a convenience,” she said. “They have more time to be able to go out and vote. It’s not limited to just that one day, and if they don’t have an excuse to get an absentee ballot, this is their other way.”

Wanda L. DeCoteau decided to vote early because she expects longer lines on Election Day

“I anticipate because of the election that it is, that the line now is shorter than it will be on Election Day,” she said.

“I have an unpredictable work schedule, and it’s nice to be able to get out ahead of time because I wouldn’t be sure if I’d be able to vote on Election Day,” added William Reuter, who travels as part of his job at Electric Boat.

Maureen Ryan, who is retired, said she used to travel for her job and have to get her ballot mailed. Ryan said early voting is nice for people who have to travel and she thought it is really good that early voting is starting in Connecticut.

Frank Barravecchia said he doesn’t know where he’ll be on Election Day because of his travel schedule.

“It’s a wonderful day, beautiful weather ― and one less thing to worry about,” he said.

j.penney@theday.com

Reporters Claire Bessette and Kimberly Drelich contributed to this story.

Early voting locations

East Lyme: Community Center, 37 Society Road, Niantic

Groton: Community Center, 61 Fort Hill Road

Ledyard: Town Hall, 741 Colonel Ledyard Highway

Lyme: Town Hall, 480 Hamburg Road

Montville: Town Hall, 310 Norwich-New London Turnpike, Uncasville

New London: City Hall, 181 State St.

North Stonington: Education Center, 298 Norwich-Westerly Road

Norwich: City Hall, 100 Broadway

Old Lyme: Town Hall, 52 Lyme St.

Preston: Public Library, 389 Route 2

Stonington: Police Station, 173 South Board St., Pawcatuck.

Waterford: Town Hall, 15 Rope Ferry Road