Vermont is expecting a record voter turnout on Tuesday…that is, from those who haven't already cast their ballots.

Towns around the state have seen a wave of early voting from eager Vermonters who can't wait to enter their pick for the nation's next president.

Secretary of State Deb Markowitz says towns have seen between 25 and 50 percent of their voters cast early ballots. She predicts that those numbers, coupled with Election Day, will put the state's overall turnout at 70 percent by the time all ballots are cast. Typically, 60 percent of the state's voters hit the polls during presidential election years.

Yet, in a state whose three electoral votes end up in blue column before the presidential nominees are even announced, the most interesting local race is turning out to be the one for governor.

It's a three-way race between incumbent Republican Gov. Jim Douglas (yes, Vermont has had a Republican governor for three terms), Democrat Gaye Symington, and Independent Anthony Pollina, who entered the race as a Progressive.

In a recent WCAX News poll, Douglas leads the pack with about 47 percent saying they'd choose him, but the more surprising shake-up came in the numbers for his challengers. Over the course of two weeks, Symington lost her double-digit lead over Pollina, putting the two nearly neck-in-neck with 24 and 23 percent respectively.

In Vermont, if no gubernatorial candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, it's up to state legislators to decide the final outcome of the race. That means all three candidates are working around the clock to shore up any last-minute votes.

And at polling stations around the state, election officials are ready for the long lines that will invariably come when the first polls open at 7 a.m.

Rachel Feldman 11/03/2008