Early voters cast their ballots less than a week away from Election Day

There is less than a week until Election Day, and many voters have already made their decisions.

"Well we are wearing red and blue, so we're a split family maybe,” said voter Amanda Edgell.

Amanda and Kyle Edgell brought their 7-month-old twins to the polls, several days early.

"Early voting is really appealing when you have babies,” said Amanda Edgell. “Otherwise we would have had to get up really early before he got to work. Having twins there was just now [a] way to make it up that early."

However, it doesn't take parenthood to bring voters out.

First-time voter Cerra Hetteson wanted to avoid the Election Day lines.

"It makes me feel like my opinion matters,” said Hetteson. “A lot of people that I know - they don't vote - but then they always have something to say about what's going on. And really if you don't vote, you shouldn't have anything to say."

Yet, fewer Marion County voters are casting their ballots early this year compared to the last presidential election: approximately 35,000 voters through Tuesday and 47,000 through the same period in 2008.

Marion County Clerk Beth White said the City-County building is now the only place to vote early, while back in 2008, two satellite locations helped boost the numbers.

Statewide, the secretary of state's office said more than 400,000 ballots have been cast in-person or mailed out, with more than 333,000 returned. The ballots must be returned on Election Day by 6 p.m. when regular polls close.

"A lady yesterday asked me if the TV commercials for the campaigns would stop coming to her house now that she's voted early,” said White. “I told her I was good, but not that good."

Kyle and Amanda Edgell, as well as other early voters, said they are glad the election is over for them.

"It is a lot of work, but it would have been worse had we been waiting in super long lines,” said Kyle Edgell.