Warren County Circuit Clerk Jan Daigre said she “knew it would be crazy, but nothing like it was.”

Daigre’s comment comes as her office is recovering from a rush of voters casting absentee ballots ahead of Saturday’s deadline.

Saturday marked the final day for registered voters to cast an absentee ballot for Tuesday’s general election. In all, Daigre reported that 4,062 absentee ballots were cast, well exceeding what had been the record of 1,775 absentee ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election.

“It’s wonderful. I think people should always vote. I can’t imagine ever not voting,” Daigre said. “I just hope the enthusiasm we had from those casting absentee ballots continues through Tuesday.”

Early voting and absentee voting has seen a marked increase nationwide this election cycle. Nearly 92 million people have already voted, about 43 percent of the registered voters in the U.S. COVID-19 concerns and a presidential election have driven the early turnout.

In Mississippi and Warren County, Daigre said other issues have contributed as well. Two ballot initiatives, one on medical marijuana and another on the new state flag, are drawing a lot of interest. There is also a senate race and House of Representatives elections to vote on.

“There have been a lot of reasons for the big turnout,” Daigre said. “You obviously have the vote on the new state flag and the medical marijuana issue, but the biggest is obviously the race for president. There’s a lot of discussions, a lot of opinions on which way the country should go.”