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GREENSBORO — The last time Howard Washington Sr. saw a line of voters so long was in the 1960s.

Voting typically takes him about a half-hour, he said, but so many people came out Sunday to vote at Barber Park that it took him more than two hours.

And it wasn't even Election Day, which is Nov. 4.

Lines were long at each of Guilford County's 11 early voting sites which opened, for the first time ever, to Sunday voters.

More than 4,700 voters hit the polls Sunday in just four hours, according to the Guilford County Board of Elections. By contrast, fewer than 3,000 ballots were cast in the two polling locations open all day on Thursday and Friday.

The after-church crowd, football fans and others ditched their usual Sunday plans to stand in voting lines. Some were just getting it out of the way. Others were doing it while they could during a precious day off from work.

"I heard Dallas is losing anyway," Washington, 70, said about the Cowboys football team, which did, in fact, lose to the St. Louis Rams.

Washington walked a few blocks from his house to Barber Park, he said, and didn't mind waiting in line.

"I've waited longer for less," he said.

Early voting began Thursday and is a way that those who haven't registered can still vote. While the deadline to register to vote on Election Day has already passed, those who vote early can register and vote at the same time.

But most of the people at Barber Park were registered and ready, and plenty came straight from church.

"I've got no car right now," said Franklin Napper, 62, who rode in a van from New Light Missionary Baptist Church with others who needed a ride to the polls. He still had on the purple shirt and tie he wore to church.

"I don't know how I would've gotten there," he said, "but I knew I'd get out someway."

An effort by several churches sent full passenger vans from several denominations to the polls.

"As people of God, we owe it to Him to be involved," the Rev. Cardes Brown Jr., pastor of New Light, said about the importance of voting. "We have a mandate upon us."

His church hosted an election forum earlier in the season and has had an ongoing voter registration drive.

Not all of those who appeared came straight from church. Some were just getting to the polls while they could. Jobs and travel plans made Sunday the best time to get out.

"We were going to be out of town on Election Day," said Carlos Morales, 28, who was standing in line with his girlfriend. The two are going to El Salvador, where Morales was born, and will miss the Nov. 4 election.

Morales, whose father served in the U.S. military, said he became a U.S. citizen in 1998 and hasn't missed an election since. The couple would've voted late last week, but couldn't make it. Sunday was their option to vote in person.

"Even if we have to wait in line," said Morgan Fisher, 27, who is a case manager for the mentally ill. "I couldn't leave to come during work."

People who vote during the workday should plan on a two-hour lunch. And plan on bringing a snack.

On Sunday, Sharon Hightower, who works with the Guilford County Unity Effort, walked down the line handing out snack crackers and water to people who would otherwise be eating Sunday dinner.

"It's chicken and tea," she said, "just close your eyes and use your imagination."

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