By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
As of Saturday, a third of Rowan County voters have already been to the polls.
Of the 90,000 registered county voters, 31,595 have participated in early voting, which ended at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Nearly two weeks ago, Nancy Evans, director of the Rowan County Board of Elections, speculated that as many as 25,000 would take advantage of early voting, which would have been a record.
On Saturday, Evans said the 31,595 record does not include votes cast by people who registered on the same day they went to the poll.
At Rowan Public Library, 900 people voted between 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and about 600 people voted at the county Board of Elections office at 130 W. Innes St.
She called Saturday’s numbers higher than normal ó and in only half a day.
The line of people waiting to vote early at the library began at one end of the building and extended to the other. Some of those voters went to the county elections office to cast their vote.
Diane and Luke Fisher were two of those who voted at the Board of Elections office.
The Salisbury couple said they voted early because they simply would not have time Tuesday.
Diane Fisher said she’s glad early voting is offered because she feels as though it encourages more people to vote.
“It’s exciting to see that enthusiasm,” she said of the turnout.
While the couple didn’t talk about how they voted, Diane Fisher bemoaned the blizzard of negative campaign ads, which she felt “makes it hard to vote.”
She prefers hearing about a candidate’s strengths rather than listening to a candidate talk about his or her opponent’s weaknesses.
“It’s been too negative. I’m ready for it to be finished so we can move forward,” Luke Fisher said.
The Fishers estimated they waited about 30 minutes to vote Saturday morning.
Dennis and Kathy Ingold of Rockwell also are at a loss when it came to the negative campaign ads.
“I despise how personal the attack ads are from both campaigns,” Kathy Ingold said.
Her husband said the candidates could’ve exhibited more professionalism and leadership by not running so many negative ads.
The pressure to run those ads could come from campaign managers or the candidates themselves, Dennis Ingold said.
“It has not been a graceful display of leadership,” his wife added.
Bonnie Goodlett voted by absentee ballot but decided to check out the polls just to see the turnout.
She voted absentee purely for the purpose of “avoiding the long lines,” she said.
Goodlett said she was tired of the negative campaigns as well, specifically some Republican candidates’ negative comments about Democrats.
She thinks the Republicans have hit below the belt, she said.
“We’ve suffered for eight years. Why not give (Barack) Obama a chance to see what he can do?” Goodlett said.
Darnell Almanzar, a Livingstone College senior, voted days ago but returned Saturday to support some Livingstone underclassmen voting for the first time.
Almanzar, 21, a native of New York, is senior class president at Livingstone. He did not vote in the primary but was inspired by Obama, the U.S. senator from Illinois.
“It feels great that the first time you vote, that it’s for a black man,” Almanzar said.
Of young people getting out to vote, Almanzar said there needs to be even more.
Livingstone College requires that incoming students be registered to vote, but Almanzar said the emphasis should also be on making sure they actually vote.
Tyiquan Tucker, 19, voted in this first election Saturday. The Detroit native, who is a Democrat, really wanted to cast his vote for Obama.
“When Obama told us that he’ll make a change, that really hit me,” Tucker said.
On Tuesday, polls open at 6:30 a.m. and remain open until 7:30 p.m.
For questions about voting, contact the Rowan County Board of Elections Office at 704-216-8140.