VALDOSTA — The first three weeks of early voting have proven quite busy with more than 6,000 votes so far for the general election.

Week three ended with an additional 2,329 votes, making a total of 6,289 votes cast after three weeks of early voting, according to information from the Office of Elections. Lowndes County Board of Elections Supervisor Deb Cox said the state has warned the board to expect a huge voter turnout on Columbus Day this Monday, when the election office will open again from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In the midst of early voting, several states have identified voter registration fraud. In the past week records have been seized from the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also known as ACORN, after allegations that the organization encouraged several people to register using duplicated information or false information so they could vote more than once.

States under investigation for voter registration fraud include Nevada, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. At this time, Georgia is not suspected of registration fraud. Calls to the state elections office about safeguards to detect voter fraud were not returned.

Early voting will continue at the Board of Elections office on North Oak Street for all registered voters through Oct. 24. Georgia’s Secretary of State’s office decided to expand early voting to 45 days over the usual five for the November general election, as early numbers indicate a record-setting year for voting.

Advance voting will run from Oct. 27-31.

Voter registration ended last Monday. The total number of registered voters in the county increased from approximately 52,000 to more than 57,000 in the past month.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4. A forum for candidates will be held at the James H. Rainwater Conference Center Tuesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

According to organizers, all candidates have been invited, including John McCain and Barack Obama — but no word yet on whether they will attend.

Week 1 – Total 2,003

Week 2 – Total 1,957

Week 3 – Total 2,329

Monday 551

Tuesday 479