Many people want the chance to vote, but can't always make it to the polls on election day, but now not everyone has to wait that long.

"I vote. I always vote," Ray Ulmer, a Washington County resident, said.

Ulmer never misses an election, but this year on election day, he won't be anywhere near the polls.

"We'll be on a ship when they're voting, so we can't, but we're serious voters," Ulmer said.

And since he can't vote from the ship, Ray's casting his vote more than a month before the election, thanks to a 2005 law that allows Ohioans to absentee vote without an excuse.

And Ray's not the only one dropping his ballot in early.

"We had our first customer at 7:30 this morning. It's been a steady stream all day," Peggy Byers, director of the board of elections, said.

The first day of voting in Ohio, allowing people to register and vote at the same time.

"You make up your mind right now that you want to get it done and it doesn't matter if it's nice or a snowy day, or you just don't feel well. You've got it done and your voice is counted," Byers said.

And these early voters want to make sure their voices are some of the first to be heard.

"It's a big one. I think this has more serious ramifications this time than any I've been involved in and I'm not a kid anymore," Ulmer said.

So with just a few strokes of a pen, Ray's decisions are made, but he'll have to wait a little longer to hear the outcome.

Byers also said more than half the states offer early voting now, which gives more people a chance to vote as well as making polls less hectic on election day.