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Number of early voting sites rises, but some lines still quite long
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Published: October 21, 2008
The number of early voting sites in Forsyth County jumped to four yesterday but the polling places couldn't keep up with the deluge of voters.
People lining up to cast ballots before Election Day on Nov. 4 found themselves with two and two-and-a-half-hour waits in some cases, said Rob Coffman, the director of elections in Forsyth County.
Early voting will run through Nov. 1, but elections officials have found many voters eager to vote as early as they can. The start of early voting on Thursday and Friday brought long lines winding around the hall of the Forsyth County Government Center, the only early voting site available at that time.
Early voting sites opened yesterday at the Kernersville Senior Center/Library and the Clemmons Library and at the Carver School Road Library in Winston-Salem, in addition to continued early voting at the government center.
"Carver School Road was one of the slowest," Coffman said, adding that the turnout there was so high that voters waited two and a half hours.
In Kernersville and Clemmons, some voters waited two hours, Coffman said.
"A lot of people are trying to vote early so they don't have to worry on Election Day," Coffman said. "I think we are going to stay pretty busy most of the time. I think what we will see happen is that once we have additional sites open, those sites will draw away from other sites.
"Our site downtown was very busy until the other ones opened."
Yesterday people could vote at the government center in 20 to 30 minutes, Coffman said. As Coffman visited the polling places, he was telling people in line that they could vote more quickly by going downtown.
Early voters can cast their ballots at any of the four available sites. Next week, 10 additional early voting sites will become available. A complete list of sites and hours is available at www.journalnow.com.
■ Wesley Young can be reached at 727-7369 or at wyoung@wsjournal.com.
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