PROVO — Another snowstorm, a sudden illness or just a busy schedule could keep people away from the polls on Super Tuesday. So those worried about missing their chance to vote can do it now.

The Utah County elections office has two early voting locations, which will be open until Friday to encourage residents to avoid the hassle and lines on Feb. 5.

"It takes pressure off of the polling locations on Election Day," said Bryan Thompson, Utah County clerk/auditor.

The voting machines, which cost $2,800, can be dispersed throughout the county and early voting reduces the need to buy additional machines for a rush on Election Day, Thompson said.

So far, early voters haven't come out in droves to experience the line- and hassle-free voting.

"It's been a little bit disappointing for this election," said Sandy Hoffman, Utah County elections clerk. "I've not seen a large crowd at either one of our locations."

One main difference between early voting and voting next Tuesday is real-time updates. With only two polling locations, the county can tap into the state's database and when a vote is cast, the database automatically notes that the voter appeared at a polling location and cast a ballot, Thompson said. Connecting to that database would be impossible on Election Day with more than 100 polling locations just in Utah County.

Voters aren't tied to one polling place for early voting either, Thompson said.

"I would like to see our early voting centers expand," he said. "Especially people coming to and from work ... and hit those centers rather than returning to their home neighborhood to vote."

Early voting takes the pressure off both the voter and the poll workers, said Utah County Commissioner Gary Anderson.

"I know that a lot of people I know, something happens — they're called out of town, they get sick — and they don't get to vote," he said. "This (early voting) ensures that your vote is cast."

He also added that it's less hassle for the elections clerks.

"It makes it much more efficient for our clerks, the sooner they have the information to collate and tabulate, the less hassle and quicker we can get results on election night," he said.

Hoffman said statistics show primary elections generally have low voter turnout. However, more than 600 people rushed the elections office on Tuesday, the last day to register to vote or to change party affiliation, Hoffman said, which took her by surprise.

Early voting is available at the County Administration Building, 100 E. Center St., Room LL900, Provo, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and at the American Fork City Library, 64 S. 100 East, from 3 to 7 p.m. today and noon to 5 p.m. on Friday.

---

E-mail: csmith@desnews.com