RALEIGH, (SGRToday.com) - After more than a year of candidate ads, debates, and events, early voting has begun in North Carolina's 2014 midterm elections.

 

One-stop early voting sites are operating at 367 sites, the most ever offered during a midterm election, according to the state Board of Elections. 

 

Early voting runs from October 23 through November 1.

 

Voters choosing to vote on Election Day must do so in their proper precinct. 

 

“We encourage voters to take advantage of the early voting options within their county,” said Board of Elections Executive Director Kim Westbrook Strach in a statement. 

 

The State Board of Elections has provided an online schedule of early voting locations. The Agency has also published a mobile application available for Android devices and has coordinated with the Voting Information Project to offer an API to third-party application developers looking to incorporate North Carolina voting data. 

 

Opportunities to vote during evening hours increased by nearly 70% over 2010, the most recent non-presidential general election, during which one in three voters cast their ballots at early voting locations.

 

Photo identification will not be required to participate in this election. That reform takes effect in 2016.

 

 Voters who present at one-stop locations will be shown an illustration of acceptable forms of identification. Those who indicate that they do not possess an appropriate form of identification will be provided written information on how to obtain a no-cost identification card from the Division of Motor Vehicles and asked to sign an acknowledgement.  

 

More than 20,000 North Carolinians had already cast absentee ballots as of Wednesday morning.