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Voters nationwide will go to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots for U.S. President, and in Mississippi, voters also will be choosing a U.S. Senator and a third Congressional District U.S. Representative along with three statewide measures.

As of Friday, some 2,771 Adams County voters had already cast absentee ballots in the election, a number that is nearly double the absentee total 1,574 votes in the 2016 presidential election.

Likewise, in Concordia Parish, some 3,121 voters have already cast early ballots ahead of Tuesday’s election. By comparison, 2,245 total early votes were cast in Concordia Parish in the 2016 presidential election.

Still, despite the high turnout ahead of the actual election, the close to 3,000 voters who have turned out in Adams County are only a fraction of the more than 19,000 voters registered in Adams County.

Obviously, interest is high in this year’s election and election officials said they are still anticipating large turnouts on Election Day. It will be interesting to see just how high the voter turnout numbers go.

Adams County Circuit Clerk Eva Givens said she felt confident the absentee votes would reach 3,000 by the time absentee voting closed at 5 p.m. Saturday. Participation in the election process is a basic right that far too many people take for granted. This year, it seems more people are taking it seriously.

If you haven’t already voted, please get out and vote Tuesday and may the best candidates win.