WHEATON, Ill. (CBS) – This is Day Four of early voting in Illinois, and thousands of people are taking advantage.

Four years ago, 96,000 people early-voted in DuPage County, according to Bob Saar, executive director of the DuPage County Election Commission. This year, despite fewer days to vote early, Saar expects at least as many early voters.

On the first day of early voting in DuPage County in 2008, about 2,900 people took part. This year, approximately 5,100 people voted early.

It’s all about convenience.

“You might be living in Naperville but you’re working in Addison. You want to do it at your lunch hour. You can do it at the facility in Addison, just as easily as you could vote in Naperville,” Saar said.

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There are 12 early voting sites in DuPage County.

Monica Gruszka voted at the DuPage Government Complex and proclaimed it, “easy.” She said she was “in and out. Registered today and voted today.”

Unlike on the actual election day, you do have to show a government-issued ID to vote early in Illinois.

Meanwhile, Saar said, absentee mail-in voting also has been gaining in popularity. Applications for mail-in ballots are way up.

He said he expects to have received 16,000 applications for absentee ballots for this year’s election, through the end of the day on Thursday. In the 2008 presidential election, there were a total of 8,900 people who mailed in ballots.