Voters in Tennessee and Georgia seem eager to get to the polls, some election officials are saying.

“Everywhere I go people are asking, ‘How long do I have to register?’ or ‘When does early voting start?’” said Oscar Kelley, a Democratic member of the Bradley County, Tenn., Election Commission. “It’s like they just can’t wait.”

In Georgia, they don’t have to because early voting already has begun.

“We anticipate our best election ever,” said John Campbell, custodian of elections for Catoosa County.

“We’ve had numerous, numerous calls regarding early voting and how long (it lasts),” said Danielle Montgomery, administrative assistant for the Walker County Election Board.

For now, early Walker County voting is only at the election office in LaFayette, Ga. But there will be three satellite locations Oct. 20-31 at the Rossville and Chickamauga municipal civic centers and at Lookout Mountain City Hall. Like the election office, the hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“We expect a much higher turnout than in previous years, including previous presidential elections,” Ms. Montgomery said.

But election workers will be ready, she said.

“We always have to prepare as if every one of our voters will be voting,” she said.

Georgia, along with 10 other states, began early voting Monday.

In Catoosa County, 175 people did so on the first day.

“We have always had that 45-day window, but it’s been for people with special reasons to vote early,” Mr. Campbell said about the absentee voting rules.

This year, however, Georgians can vote without a special reason.

Since Monday, voter visits have been steady, Mr. Campbell said.

“Either way it turns out, this is a historic election,” said Theba Hamilton, a Republican member of the Bradley County Election Commission. “People want to be involved for that reason.”

“We’ve had a lot more interest from people who want to work the election, too,” said Democrat Dana Burgner of the Bradley County Election Commission. And while most of those folks are baby boomers, there also are a number of young people, he said.

“People are very motivated in both parties,” Mr. Kelley said.

That shows in a growing number of registered voters, Bradley County Election Administrator Fran Green said. Between Aug. 8, the day after the local general election, until Tuesday, Bradley County added 1,455 new voters, she said.

“There are a lot of voter registration drives going on,” she said.

So the numbers are expected to grow even more before the Tennessee registration deadline Oct. 6.

“We had one person come in thinking he could vote now because he had seen on the news where Georgia is already voting,” said Judy Rogers, deputy administrator for elections in Marion County, Tenn.

“We are having quite a few new registrations,” she said. “Everybody is interested. Of course here in Jasper we also have a mayor’s race that’s pretty hot, and that’s getting attention, too.”

The Marion County office is also getting a steady flow of requests for voting by mail, she said.

“You never know what to expect in a presidential year except that a lot of people are going to come out,” she said.

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