“These are the authorization to vote that the voters use,” Dickerson said.

More than 178,000 people voted in Mecklenburg County Tuesday alone.

Add that to early and absentee voting and you get about 413,000 people.

Dickerson is a big proponent of early voting since it began in North Carolina in 2002. Now he would like to see more of it in different places.

“There might be an opportunity to investigate even more ideas of early voting. Bigger sites, early voting centers kind of concept, but you have to factor in what the cost is,” Dickerson said.

For example he is like to see more recreation centers that can hold more people open up for early voting and fewer libraries where traffic bottled up parking lots and people jammed building.

Pat Lund, who organized the early voting site at the Plaza Midwood Library, said “More parking? Yes if we can get it and merchants to cooperate with us because if they come over and say, 'Ok,’ you can get a free drink if you have an ‘I voted’ sticker.”

The chief complaint from voters was long lines during early voting, but still people like Kelly Owen are glad it was available. “We need more voting booths. There weren't that many, maybe six or eight. That was the common complaint I heard from friends.”