'I early voted. Did you?'

I cast my ballot in early voting at the Simkins Pavillion in Barber Park in Greensboro this morning.

I was in and out in 28 minutes. The polling site was busy, but the lines didn't stretch out the door. Four registrars with laptop computers asked voters for their names and then to confirm their addresses. After that, we got in another line, and waited for poll workers to direct us to one of 15 electronic voting machines. My poll worker explained how to vote for president separately before exercising the straight-party option for partisan race, and then how to continue down through the ballot to vote in the nonpartisan judicial races. Of course, I did not exercise that option.

An electioneer outside the polling place was handing out campaign cards for District Court Judge incumbent Susan Burch. Later, while waiting in line to vote, I spotted a stack of the cards on a folding table inside the polling place. Another voter covered them up with a clipboard.

A woman who appeared to be the precinct judge asked everybody to turn off their cell phones because they could interfere with the laptop computers. I assume she meant that they could interfere with a wireless connection.

Once when I was voting I accidentally selected a candidate other than the one I wanted. I touched the box for that candidate to uncheck the selection, and then selected the candidate of my choice. The Guilford County Republican Party reports fielding complaints from voters who intended to select John McCain as their choice for president and found out that the box for Barack Obama checked off instead. As Deputy Elections Director Charlie Collicutt suggested, I found that using the tip of my fingernail worked best to get an accurate recording.

ADDENDUM: Oct. 25, 2:40 p.m. — A Guilford County voter who visited an early voting site yesterday afternoon reports the mood as being "serious and purposeful," an absence of partisan statements and no complaints about the wait.