The county clerk in Jefferson County says she's noticed a much more informed voting public this time around for the table games referendum.

The Dec. 5 scheduled election will be the second Jefferson County has had on the issue. Voters defeated the first, in the summer of 2007. The owners of Charles Town Races & Slots decided to try again.

Jennifer Maghan, county clerk of Jefferson County, says it appears a lot more voters have done their homework this time around. "While I don't have any anticipation on how the vote will turn out, I do know that citizens are making informed votes and that's a great thing," Maghan told MetroNews.

Early voting had topped 1,500 by Tuesday afternoon. The clerk expects that number to grow before the Dec. 2 early voting deadline.

Maghan is optimistically predicting a 45-50 percent voter turnout on Dec. 5. "I'm being hopeful because we've never had that much of a vote turnout, so it would be great to see," she said.

There is organized opposition to the proposal. Maghan says there are strong opinions on both sides of the issue.