Due to the extremely high turnout of early voting thus far, the Hamilton County Election Commission has decided to extend the hours of the three satellite locations by one hour, Election Administrator Bud Knowles said Thursday.
As of Wednesday night, the early vote total for Hamilton County was 31,581. After Thursday's voting, it was up to 36,074.
Instead of opening at 10 a.m., the Northgate and Brainerd Recreation Center sites will now open for voters at 9 a.m.
This change will take effect starting Saturday and will run through the end of early voting, which is next Thursday.
Mr. Knowles said, "We hope this change in hours will benefit voters and give them more of an opportunity to cast their votes early.
"We are seeing a record turnout so far and encourage all citizens of Hamilton County to take advantage of early voting to avoid probable long lines on election day.
"To avoid long lines and confusion at the polls we strongly recommend that all registered voters consider taking advantage of one of our convenient early voting sites."
New hours starting Saturday will be as follows:
Hamilton County Election Commission: 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday (Closed Sunday)
Northgate Mall: 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday-Thursday (Closed Sunday)
Brainerd Recreation Center: 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday-Thursday (Closed Sunday)