Lines at the polls means “democracy is working,” an elections official said.

“It’s great that we are having such a big turnout,” Elections Administrator Hooper Penuel said. “Voters must be considerate of others, be patient and watch the voting process work for the good of Rutherford County.”

And many Rutherford countians are watching democracy in action by filing through early voting sites in droves. MOre than 30,000 had voted by Wednesday night, almost twice as many as the some 16,000 that had voted in the same period in 2004.

And with the historic voter turnout level, comes very long lines at certain sites at certain times of the day.

“All locations are experiencing lines during the day, according to the election officials at the sites,” Penuel said, adding it just takes minutes to check in and cast a ballot after reaching the registration table.

But it’s actually reaching the table that has many frustrated.

Penuel said voters can help the process by bringing in their voter registration card, because it has all the information poll workers need to process voters through in a timely manner.

Early Voting Sites

Open from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-noon Saturday during early voting:

Murfreesboro SportsCom
2310 Memorial Blvd., Murfreesboro

Election Commission Annex
426 E. Vine St. Murfreesboro

Rutherford County Ag Center
1026 Golf Ln., Murfreesboro

Tennessee Rehabilitation Center
460 9th Ave, Smyrna

La Vergne Civic Auditorium
283 Old Nashville Highway, La Vergne 

Open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday and from 8 a.m.-noon Saturday during early voting:

Rutherford County Election Commission Office
No. 1 Public Square South, next to Big B Cleaners
Extended hours: 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Oct. 28-30