COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Elections officials say early voting in Franklin County is nearly on pace with the turnout for the 2012 presidential election.

Ed Leonard, director of the Board of Elections, said voters have one less week for early voting this year because of the elimination of the so-called “Golden Week.” In 2012, early voting overlapped with the last week of voter registration allowing voters to both register and vote at the same time.

“We have seen very early on the numbers are pretty strong compared to 2012,” Leonard said. “We’re getting a lot of people coming in in a much shorter period of time than we did four years ago. I think it’s more just making sure you get that vote in early so that life doesn’t get in the way on Election Day.”

Beginning this week, early voting hours are extended from 5pm to 6pm weekdays. There will also be weekend hours on Saturday from 8am to 4pm and Sunday from 1pm to 5pm.

The Franklin County Board of Elections reports receiving 160,224 absentee ballot requests as of last Friday. Of those, 18,235 voted in person at the early voting center.