news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Early voting just got easier in Guilford County.

Polls will open for one Sunday in the fall early-voting period - for the first time. The Guilford County elections board will also drop the pat-down that was a part of voting at a difficult High Point polling place.

Early voting begins Oct. 16. Polls are open for Sunday voting on Oct. 19.

A polling place at the High Point courthouse will close, while two new locations will open. The move means that early voters won't have to go through a courthouse-required search and wait in long lines before casting ballots.

Frisks aren't included at other polling places across Guilford County, which are often found in community centers, churches and schools. Most people just walk up, check in, grab a registration code and vote.

"The courthouse is easy to find, but the parking is down in a hole," said Jim Turner, chairman of the Guilford County Board of Elections, about the High Point location.

The new High Point early voting sites are Washington Terrace Park on Gordon Street and the Courtyard by Marriott at Oak Hollow Mall, George Gilbert, elections director for Guilford County, said Friday.

People can still vote at the Roy Culler Senior Center on North Hamilton Street.

As for opening polls on a Sunday, that means losing a Saturday early voting day.

Guilford County Commissioner Carolyn Coleman, who pushed Sunday voting, said she believes adding Sunday will make a "tremendous difference."

"People who are churchgoers tend to go out to church, and then they can go out to eat and vote," Coleman said. "And those who don't go to church, they may sleep late, and then go out and eat and go and vote."

Though elections officials are not yet convinced that Sunday voting will have a great impact.

"I've not had any voters over the last eight years call and say, 'I can't vote any day but Sunday,'" Gilbert said, "but there are those for whom it will probably be a better day."

Turner echoed that sentiment.

"We're giving it a try; we're having some doubts about it. The staff does not like it," Turner said.

Statewide, Sunday voting is becoming a regular part of early voting periods, particularly in more populated counties.

"Wake county has done it numerous times," said Don Wright, general counsel for the State Board of Elections.

The Sunday voting period for Guilford County must still be approved by the state elections board, but Wright said that board has never shot down such a request.

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com