Early voting a hit nationwide

Georgia residents have braved lines as long as eight hours to cast ballots and forcing some voting sites to stay open deep into the night. Polls have been open in Georgia since September 22, but dozens more opened this week as part of a statewide strategy to ease the crunch on Election Day. The advance voting sites will be open every day through Friday. About 200,000 votes cast their ballots on Monday alone. They're among 1.2 million people – more than 20 percent of the state's 5.6 million registered voters, who have voted early so far.

In Florida, a crucial battleground state where early voting lines have also been long, Governor Charlie Christ signed an executive order yesterday keeping polling places open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. That's four hours longer than specified in state law. Christ cited record turnout in signing the order. Nationwide, about a third of voters in more than 30 states are expected to cast their ballots before Election Day.

(Associated Press)