Iowa elections officials sent and received thousands of absentee ballots on the first day of in-person early voting.

As early voting began in Iowa Wednesday, candidates and voters expressed enthusiasm about polls opening for the general election and encouraged others to make plans to vote. Iowans were lined up all the way down the block waiting to enter the Polk County election office in Des Moines just before 8 a.

Friends of the Earth Action, which advocates for environment-friendly policies, has endorsed Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan in Eastern Iowa’s 1st Congressional District election.