Schuylkill County's election bureau is gearing up for the increase in voters that comes with any presidential election.

Turnout for November's general election is expected to be much higher than 2015 due to the presidential race."There are people who vote in the presidential who don't vote in any other election. We anticipate a big turnout," Election bureau director Frannie Brennan said.Brennan reported during Wednesday's meeting of the county commissioners that her office is working hard to get out all absentee and military ballots. She also spoke about the upcoming deadline for voter registration."(Oct. 11) is the last day to register to vote. I would prefer that people call the office at this point in time to see if they are registered, rather than go to the polling place and find out they are not registered," she said.The deadline for the general public to apply for an absentee ballot isNov. 1. Brennan said that voters planning to use an absentee ballot this election would be wise to get their applications in before that date, because the deadline to postmark them for return isNov. 4."We get a lot of absentee ballots brought in. They have to be stamped. But we go over to the post office every two hours," she said.The only exception is military personnel serving overseas, who have until Nov. 15 to submit their ballots.Brennan reported that they were also sending out the last of the many ballots for military personnel serving overseas. They were working to get them out by the Sept. 21 deadline.Other businessThe commissioners also heard from coroner David Moylan, who was seeking a change to a contract with a company used to provide toxicology services.Moylan said that the coroner's office is hoping to do more testing locally in the future. He said the recent formation of Lehigh Valley Health Network - Schuylkill - formerly Schuylkill Health - could present opportunities.He gave the example of carbon monoxide testing for fire victims. That testing takes two to three months with the normal provider. But if it was done at LVHN, which has the capability, it may take just a few minutes.