Voters line up early to cast ballots

George Grubbs said he waited in line for more than an hour to cast a ballot at the Chavis Park early-voting site in Raleigh, where more than 1,500 votes were cast Thursday.

"It was wrapped around the building there when I first got here," Grubbs said. "I thought I was going to get here and see a real short line, and it just keeps growing."

Both Grubbs and Carolyn Taylor said they were willing to wait to get their votes in.

"I want to vote, make a difference," Taylor said.

"I know who I want to vote for, and I'm ready to get it done and get it behind me," Grubbs said.

Wilma Hall, who waited in line with friends, said she wanted to get her vote in early in case she got too busy in the next couple of weeks.

"If this is what the first day's going to be like, what is Nov. 8 going to be like?" Hall said. "They're out here today, which is really good."

Reports of long lines came in from all over the Triangle. Even though the lines were moving pretty quickly, most voters said they waited one to two hours to cast their ballots.

That's nothing to Andre Harris, who recently finished serving a 24-year prison sentence for burglary and arson. He spends his time these days as a public speaker, telling students not to follow his example.

Now that his sentence is complete, his right to vote has been restored, making Thursday the first vote he's ever been able to cast.

"It's a great opportunity, a great privilege," Harris said. "It's going to be an awesome experience because, for the first time in my life, I have the opportunity to make a difference, and that's what life is all about."

In Durham, North Carolina Central University students marched to the county Board of Elections office as part of the statewide "This is our time, this is our vote" campaign organized by the state chapter of the NAACP.

The campaign hopes to encourage college students to focus on issues raised in national, state and local campaigns and exercise their right to vote.

"A lot of students are like, 'I don't like Hillary Clinton. I don't like Donald Trump,' so they're saying they're not going to vote for either," N.C. Central student Stevie Ford said.

"I have great confidence that young people – I have five of them in my house, and not only are they voting, but they're organizing in ways I haven't seen," state NAACP President Rev. William Barber said.

Most voters will not need to show photo identification when they arrive at the polls, either during the early voting period or on Election Day. A federal appeals court overturned voter ID rules that were in place for the March and June primaries.

Q&A: Voting in election 2016

However, voters taking advantage of same-day registration should plan to bring proof of residency with them. One-stop voting allows voters to register and vote at the same time. Proof of residency can be a North Carolina driver's license, a photo identification from a government agency or a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document.

Same-day registration is not available on Election Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Voters are now allowed to use a smartphone to look at candidate lists, sample ballots or other election info, but they cannot use a phone to contact anyone else while in the voting enclosure. Also, photos inside the voting area are banned, meaning no pictures of a completed ballot or selfies in the voting booth.

Early voting runs through Saturday, Nov. 5, although times and availability vary by county:

Voters have been casting mail-in absentee ballots since September, and those who wish to vote by mail have until Nov. 1 to request a mail-in ballot.