This is what we're up against, folks. Utah has new touch-screen voting machines in every county. Although the technology is simple to use, there's a learning curve involved.

Here's another wrinkle: There are fewer touch-screen machines than there were punch-card stations in previous elections. All of this could add up to long waits to vote on Election Day.

Here's an alternative: Utahns can vote early in many locations through Friday. In Salt Lake and Davis counties, early voting will be conducted on Saturday at limited locations. For more information, call your county clerk's office or visit Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert's Web site at www.elections.utah.gov. Click on the "early voting" icon.

Although early voting has been available since Oct. 24, some locations have not had lines until now. Some of the lines have reportedly been an hour long, but others have been far less crowded. Again, check with your respective county clerk regarding the least-busy voting locations.

Not only should voters go to the polls prepared to vote, they should also "test drive" the touch-screen voting machine using the interactive tutorial at www.leaveyourprint.com. If you're not computer savvy, there are also instructions available at libraries and county clerks' offices.

If you can't vote by Friday or even Saturday in Salt Lake and Davis counties, come up with an Election Day strategy. Polls are typically the busiest shortly after they open, 7 a.m. to about 8:30 a.m. and again after work until closing time, approximately 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Voting during off-peak hours should reduce the likelihood for long waits.

Should you encounter a long line, please be patient. This election is the first large-scale use of the touch-screen voting machines. Although the touch-screen machines are about as simple as using an automatic teller machine, some people will require assistance. This, combined with fewer machines than before, adds up to a very real possibility for standing in line.

If you're tempted not to wait once you arrive at the polls, or you think you won't go to the polls because of the possibility of a line, take a minute and contemplate the many places in the world where people do not get to choose their leaders. Remember the first free elections among blacks in South Africa? There, voters were willing to wait in line for hours to exercise their choices. More recently, Iraqis in 2005 voted in their first free election in 50 years. Some 58 percent of eligible Iraqis voted, despite the grave dangers they faced in doing so. Think of them holding their ink-stained thumbs high as they left polling places.

Voting on Nov. 7 may not be as simple as in previous years, but it remains one of most important civic duties. If exercising that right means we have to endure a wait in line, it's surely worth it.