Early voting hours extended to 5 p.m. Saturday

Due to record voter turnout, the Buncombe County Board of Elections has extended voting hours on the final day of the early voting period. Voters can now register and cast a ballot at the 15 early voting locations until 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1.

Yesterday, the state Board of Elections ordered that counties keep early voting sites open a few extra hours after Guilford and Mecklenburg counties requested extended hours. The polls were originally supposed to close at 1 p.m., though the state board’s decision did allow counties the option of not extending their hours if their local board of elections unanimously agreed.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 56,552 voters — about 32 percent of the total who are registered — had already cast their ballots in Buncombe County. Of those, 30,292 are Democrats, 13,047 Republicans, 13,174 unaffiliated and 39 Libertarians. As of this morning, 2,078,050 North Carolinians have already cast their ballots — that’s 58.5 percent of the total 2004 vote. Of the voters, more than half (52.6 percent) are Democrats, 29.6 percent are Republicans and 17.8 percent are unaffiliated.

Voters can register to vote and cast their ballot at any of the early voting sites. However, only already registered voters can do so on Tuesday, Nov. 4, and then, they must vote at their polling place. To find your Election Day polling place, go here.

— David Forbes, staff writer

 

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