Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections holds news conference about early voting, mail-in ballots

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — More than 34% of voters in Palm Beach County have already cast their ballots, less than two weeks ahead of Election Day.

According to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, more than 70,000 people have voted early in-person so far, and more than 283,000 mail-in ballots have been returned.

"This week, we're approaching that critical time where we expect to see a lot of the remaining ballots turned in," said Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link at a news conference on Friday morning.

WATCH NEWS CONFERENCE:

Link said if you're mailing your ballot, allow at least a week for it to arrive at the Supervisor of Elections headquarters.

"We're getting close to that period of time where you should get it in the mail quickly if you're gonna do it," Link said.

SPECIAL COVERAGE: Election 2020

Saturday at 5 p.m. is the deadline to request a vote-by-bail ballot in Palm Beach County. You can do so by visiting the Supervisor of Elections headquarters located at 240 South Military Trail in West Palm Beach, by calling 561-656-6200, or online by clicking here.

If you've already mailed your ballot in, you can track it's status by clicking here. The Supervisor of Elections website will show you when your ballot has been received and counted, as well as if they are any issues that need to be fixed.

"There is sometimes a delay," Link said. "When people say, well, I dropped it off this morning at 10 o'clock and I went back and it's not showing as received. Well, we're gonna pick those ballots up each night. They'll come back here the following morning, we're gonna process them. It'll go through that process of looking at the signatures, confirming that there's not already voter history, making sure that you haven't previously voted. Then we're gonna accept it. Then it goes to the website vendor to put it on the website. So it could be 48 to 72 hours before you're seeing it on the website."

Early voting in Palm Beach County runs until Sunday, Nov. 1 at 18 different locations across the county. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day. You can also cast your vote early at 25 Supervisor of Elections vans throughout the county that have secure, sealed drop boxes.

To see a list of early voting locations and drop boxes in Palm Beach County, click here.

Election leaders expect to see bigger than average crowds this weekend, the first weekend of early voting.

So far, the busiest early voting location has been the Jupiter Community Center, where more than 6,000 people have already voted.

Link said the Supervisor of Elections office has 24/7 security at its four offices in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Delray Beach, and Belle Glade.

"We want to ensure all voters that we've taken that step," Link said.

RELATED: WPTV Voter Information Guide

Link on Friday also addressed recent news from the FBI which said Iran and Russia have obtained voter registration information and are sending misinformation to voters.

According to Link, at this point, there have been no cases of that happening in Palm Beach County.

Link said the Supervisor of Elections office is trying to combat the misinformation campaign by being proactive with sending out accurate information, including text messages, emails, and virtual town halls.

"We're basically trying to saturate the market with radio, TV, Spanish, English, Creole to let everybody know the correct information and accurate information from us," Link said. "We're never gonna send something to you that says, your vote is not gonna count. We're gonna tell you how to make your vote count."