Convenient polling spots, shorter lines

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Voters in Bernalillo County set a record for early in-person voting this year but will that trend continue?

The Bernalillo County Clerk says things are running surprisingly smooth.

So far 29,000 people have voted that's down a little bit compared to the last general election.

Residents were casting their ballots at Bandelier Elementary School Tuesday in southeast Albuquerque.

The site is full but things seemed to move pretty quickly.

Voters also breezed in and out at the Paseo crossing location, near Paseo del Norte and Wyoming.

Problems were reported at the Ventana Ranch location and at Cibola High School.

Voters we spoke to say they're happy to wait no matter how long.

“The line was actually not too bad…maybe two minutes,” Emily Hebert said. “Everyone directs you where you need to go, you get your ballots, they tabulate it…it's a really simple process. It takes two to five minutes."

Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver says it's a good thing to have these vote anywhere spots especially on Election Day Tuesday.

There are 69 polling locations that voters can choose from. They will open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Even with the ease of open polling locations, the clerk's office says that you should anticipate some sort of delay on this big day.

"I think voters sort of know, in a traditional precinct model if they go, first thing in the morning or over the lunch hour or last thing at the end of the day, they're probably going to experience a bit of a wait. I think that'd be the same whether we had traditional precincts or these election day vote centers," says Toulouse Oliver.

Find the fastest poling spot>>

Bernalillo County set a record with early in-person voting this year.

Almost 150,000 people cast their ballots before Election Day, that about 24,000 more than the last general election.

Even so, absentee voting was down from last year.