Voters who want to cast their ballot early but haven’t been able to get to a precinct during office hours have an opportunity to head to the polls after work with extended hours being offered today and Thursday at the Cedartown and Rockmart precincts.

Both locations will be open until 7 p.m. this evening – and again on Thursday – as part of efforts to ensure that everyone has a chance to early vote. This past weekend was the Saturday the Board of Elections chose to have open during this year’s election cycle ahead of the November 3 vote as the numbers continue to climb well past record territory locally.

The Board of Elections reported that 10,674 people have so far cast a ballot in Polk County, whether it be in-person at one of the two precincts or via a mail-in ballot that has been returned.

On Monday, there were 278 voters who visited the Rockmart precinct, and 272 stopped by the Cedartown precinct. The Board of Elections also received back additional absentee ballots in the mail or via the dropbox outside of the County Administration building. That brought the overall total of ballots returned via mail or the box to 2,393.

Voters can head to 144 West Ave., Cedartown or 605 Goodyear Ave., Rockmart to vote today until 7 p.m. Regular hours return on Wednesday at both locations from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the extended hours are back on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Friday’s final day of early voting for Polk County will have a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule.

Elections Coordinator Brande Coggins said it was the county’s goal to have recorded 13,000 votes by the time the week is through ahead of the November 3 vote. That would be more than half of the 25,480 registered voters in Polk County to take part before Election Day.

Those who want to vote early can visit either polling location, but on Election Day you must go to your assigned polling location.

Visit the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page to learn more about where your precinct is located.

Officials continue to encourage early voting participation now to avoid long wait times and problems on November 3. The goal also is to have enough of the vote gathered ahead of next Tuesday to allow for counting once polls are closed to go smoothly.