Last-minute sprint to vote early in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio If ever there were a way to be early and late at the same time, it was on display this afternoon in Columbus, Ohio, as voters wishing to cast an early ballot scrambled to beat the 2 p.m. deadline.

Megan Moore, a recent graduate of Ohio State University, sprinted across the parking lot and past a line of 150 people waiting outside the Franklin County Early Voting Center only to arrive seconds after the cutoff.

"I have to work [Tuesday]. That's why I was trying to come down today," said Moore. She'll try to vote on her lunch break tomorrow.

Andrei Manilchuk was a little earlier and a lot luckier. He was last in line to cast a ballot of the more than 4000 people who voted early Monday in Columbus.

As a board of elections worker counted down the minutes remaining before the polls closed, Manilchuk nonchalantly slipped in line before being swarmed by media. He shrugged and said, "[I'm] just happy to get in line."

Over the weekend, the line of early voters snaked up and down the parking lot of a converted department store that now serves as early voting center here. Wait times of two or more hours were reported.

Early voting began across the state on October 2. As of Friday, more than 1.6 million Ohioans had voted in-person or by mail, according to Secretary of State Jon Husted.