HONESDALE, PA — Local election officials were confident going into today’s historic election, and now that it’s underway, Wayne County Chief Financial Officer Vicky Botjer said that it’s going more efficiently than she expected.

Beginning at 7 a.m. this morning, a bipartisan group of 17 county employees began opening more than 8,200 mail-in ballots. Botjer was hoping to finish at around 3 p.m. today; in fact, they were done by 1:45 p.m.

More than 10,000 Wayne County residents requested mail-in ballots, and the remainder still have until 8 p.m. tonight to bring their completed ballots to the county courthouse. After 8 p.m., employees will begin counting all the ballots they’ve received, along with those from in-person polling locations.

Botjer expects to have the mail-in ballot results in by around 8:30  p.m. tonight. She said that in the larger voting precincts like Lake, Paupack and Salem townships, significant lines have been reported and that their results might come in later than others. Botjer said residents can still expect results by the end of the night, however.