Aldo O'Riordan wants to vote.
The UF sophomore went to the Supervisor of Elections Office on Monday, the last day to register to vote before the Nov. 4 general election, despite the work, the school assignments and the car accident that delayed him in the past.
"I want to make my vote count," he said.
O'Riordan was not alone.
Would-be voters lined up at the door of the Supervisor of Elections Office as soon as it opened at 8 a.m., said Supervisor of Elections Pam Carpenter.
Lines continued to form throughout the day at the office, which stayed open until 8 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. for "Marathon Monday."
Though the staff was too busy stamping and processing registrations to count how many people came to register, Carpenter said she believed the office met its goal of 150,000 registered voters in Alachua County. As of Saturday, that number was 147,236, according to the supervisor's Web site.
Numerous voter registration drives have helped the county to meet its goals, Carpenter said.
Different organizations, such as UF's Students for Barack Obama, have also contributed, she said, gesturing to a box full of about 1,000 voter registration applications.
The group did not yet know Monday how many voters it had registered overall, co-coordinator Garrett Garner said.
Chomp the Vote, UF's Student Government-funded voter registration organization, registered about 1,000 voters on campus, said Brett Roth, the director of Chomp the Vote.
About 15 temporary employees helped register people and process the information, while existing staff has gone into overtime, working late and on the weekends, Carpenter said.
While many people have stopped by the office to register, Carpenter said any applications postmarked by Monday would be valid.
Gladys Combs, who has been an Alachua County resident since 1979, stopped by the office Monday to register in the county for the first time.
She previously registered in Citrus County, where she owns property.
Combs said the process was easy, and she was done in 10 minutes.
"It's important to vote so you can be part of the system," she said.
