 |
| ||||||
Text Size 
• Email • Printer Friendly
|
Thursday, October 23, 2008 10:36 AM Early voting on pace to shatter previous numbers By Matt Shaw | Times Staff Writer It's the busiest of times at Wilson County's early voting sites -- at least one of them. Through the first week of early voting, which ended Wednesday evening, more than 8,700 Wilson County residents had voted in the 2008 presidential, state and local elections. That means the county is on pace to have nearly 19,000 early voters, or almost twice what it had in the One-Stop period for the 2004 elections. Elections Director Ann Cone had estimated last week that the early turnout would be between 15,000 and 18,000 people, but Wednesday evening she revised her estimate to between 15,000 and 20,000 voters. Ironically, while parking is scarce around the Board of Elections' office and lines are frequent, Wilson County's other early voting site was practically deserted Wednesday afternoon, other than for poll workers. The county's administrative building on Miller Road, behind the old Nichols building on U.S. 301, opened Monday as an alternative to the downtown early voting location, given the heavy interest in this year's elections. But it has averaged only about 180 voters a day, despite plentiful parking. Only one person was voting at 3 p.m. Wednesday, although it picked up later. A total of 198 people voted at Miller Road Wednesday, compared to 1,286 people downtown. "We thought of offering free coffee and doughnuts," joked Rena Morris, deputy elections director, as she and other elections workers waited for the next voter to stroll in. "One lady called us the best-kept secret in Wilson," said poll worker Glenda Gates. Only twice in three days were all eight machines at the Miller Road building full of voters, poll workers said. The longest line has been three people waiting. The Board of Elections has publicized both locations, but poll workers could not explain why the new site is slow to catch on. However, those who found it were grateful to have a hassle-free and quick turn at the polls. "My sister voted her yesterday, otherwise I wouldn't have known about it," said Wanda Kirby, accompanied by her daughter, Katherine, a sixth-grader at Community Christian School. "She told me I could vote in five minutes." Myra Cunningham had already tried twice Wednesday to vote at the Douglas Street location, but was discouraged when she couldn't find parking nearby. Then someone clued her in to the second polling place. "It's wonderful, everyone here was so nice," she said after voting. "I am fixing to call a couple of other people and let them know." The last time Tony Harrell voted, he said he spent more than an hour at the polls. "I waited until the last minute," he said. This time, he was finished voting in about 10 minutes. mshaw@wilsontimes.com | 265-7878 ============================================================ EARLY VOTING BY THE NUMBERS Here is the breakdown of people who have voted early by the precinct where they are registered. The numbers are through Wednesday: Black Creek Community Center, 331 Cross Roads (Lucama Fire Station), 207 Gardners School, 354 Oldfields (Sims Volunteer Fire Department), 419 Saratoga (Sanoca Fire Station), 124 Spring Hill (St. Mary's Club), 190 Stantonsburg/Moyton Fire Station, 159 Taylors (New Hope School), 912 Toisnot (Elm City Elementary), 640 Wilson A (Wilson library), 177 B (Whitfield Recreation Building), 238 C (Vandahlia Reid Center), 337 D (Wilson Recreation Center), 313 E (Toisnot Middle), 262 H (Elvie Recreation Center), 207 I (Agriculture Center), 357 J (Health Department), 611 K (Forest Hills Clubhouse), 331 L (Fire Station No. 4), 425 M (Wells School), 782 N (Darden Alumni), 549 P (Forest Hills Middle), 277 Q (American Legion Building), 143 R (Reid Street Center), 369 ============================================================ WILSON COUNTY'S EARLY VOTING SITES * Board of Elections office, 112 Douglas St. E. Voting hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Oct. 31; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday; and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1. * Wilson County administrative building on Miller Road. Voting hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through Oct. 31. There is no weekend voting at this site. Same-day registration and voting is available at either place. People wanting to do so will need to bring identification and proof of address. There's a list on the Wilson County Board of Elections' Web site -- www.wilson-co.com/boeonestop.html -- of acceptable documents. Same-day registration will not be allowed on Election Day. Polls will be open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4. |
| Add Comment: | |  | | (All comments must be approved) |
| View Comments: | | | | (0 comments) |
Most Popular
 |
 |
 |
