MIAMI (CBS4) - We're still hours away from the start of election day, but for hundreds of thousands of South Florida voters, the decision has already been made. Early Voting ended Sunday evening, when the last voters in Miami-Dade county cast their early ballots, and while not as many people voted early this time as they did in the 2008 general election, almost 400 thousand people made an early decision at polling places or by absentee ballots.

In Miami-Dade, 97 thousand people cast a vote at one of 20 early polling places, and another 115 thousand have returned absentee ballots as of the latest count, for an early voting total of more than 212 thousand voters. Miami Dade has 1.2 million registered voters for this election, meaning 17.6 % voted early..

In Broward, with only 12 days of early voting and fewer polling places, 85 thousand people came early to vote, and another 67 thousand votes were returned with absentee ballots as of Monday morning, for a total early vote, to date, of 152 thousand in Broward County. That's about 14.5% of Broward's just over 1 million registered voters.

In the far less populous Keys, just over 10 thousand people cast early ballots as of Monday morning. With just 5 polling places, only 12 days, and no evening hours, the Monroe County supervisor of elections reported just over 4 thousand early votes, or about 66 votes per day per early voting station, on average. With another 68 thousand votes cast by absentee ballot as of Monday morning, about 20% of the Keys 51 thousand registered voters have voted early.

The numbers for each county are expected to increase, as absentee ballots mailed to voters continue to come in. Absentee ballots will be counted so long as they received by the close of the polls Tuesday, which in South Florida is 7 p.m.

If you have an absentee ballot and have yet to mail it, elections officials suggest you drop the ballot off an an elections office to be sure it's received on time.

At this point, the only other option is to line up with your neighbors at your polling place, anytime after 7 a.m. Tuesday morning. For a complete list of all South Florida polling places, and for help in finding yours, visit cbs4.com/campaign2010

Voters are reminded that they must bring a valid photo identification that contains their name and signature if they vote at their polling place election day.

Acceptable forms of identification include:
•    State of Florida Driver's License
•    ID Card issued by the State of Florida
•    U. S. Passport
•    Debit/Credit Cards
•    Military ID
•    Student ID
•    Retirement Center ID