Local boards of elections say this election will be historic in terms of political division and how people are voting.

Hundreds of thousands of votes were cast in the Hudson Valley prior to Election Day via early voting.

At last check, Westchester officials said 249,000 people voted early or via absentee ballot in Westchester. That's more than half the number of people who voted in the 2016 election.

The New York State Board of Elections says over 33,000 people in Dutchess County and almost 43,000 in Orange County voted early. More than 10,000 in Putnam County and nearly 29,000 people in Ulster County voted early.

Rockland County Board of Elections officials say they've received four times as many mail-in ballots than they did in 2016, requiring an entire room to store them all. They say only a few people have keys to the room.

"A Democratic lock and a Republican lock and if there is a court case and ballots are impounded, this third lock is the sheriff's lock," said Kristen Zebrowski Stavisky, the Rockland County Board of Education commissioner.

As tensions build ahead of Election Day, Westchester County Executive George Latimer says county police will be deployed to a number of locations Tuesday night and will provide backup to local police. He says there will also be heightened security to protect absentee ballots.

The polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. Tuesday. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and must be received by Nov. 10.

Officials say if you have not sent in your mail-in ballot yet, either drop it off in person or vote in person.