Officials at the Westchester County Board of Elections say it was very busy ahead of Election Day.

The office has been packed for weeks as voters rush to request absentee ballots ahead of Tuesday's deadline.

Turnout during the primary election in September set records, and so far absentee ballot requests for the race have nearly doubled the numbers election officials saw during the county executive's race last year or the previous midterm election in 2014.

In 2018, 47,000 people who have never voted before in the county have signed up to vote

Election officials believe these new voters are partly interested in state and local issues, but they say President Donald Trump is by far the major motivating force.

Longtime voter Janine Reif was picking up an absentee ballot to mail to her daughter, who is away at college. She believes this election is about taking back the power from politicians and returning it to the people.

“It’s an opportunity to reverse the trend we're on, which is down,” she says.