Polk County is on pace for a record turnout of early voters for a primary in a presidential election year.

In just two and a half days of early voting, Polk County already has seen about half the number of early voters it saw during the entire early voting period for the 2004 primary.

The county still has about 10 days of early voting left to go this year.

As of yesterday around 11 a.m., the Polk County Board of Elections Office had collected 166 votes. In comparison, the last presidential election year there were 340 total early voters in Polk County.

A special location for early voting also opened yesterday in Green Creek. Election officials decided to add the location this year because they were expecting a big turnout of early voters.

The new site also offers a location that may be more convenient for some residents who are on the eastern end of the county or who prefer to vote in the evening.

Early voting began at the Green Creek Family Life Center yesterday at 1 p.m. The family life center will be open for voting Monday through Friday from 1 to 7 p.m. and from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Friday, May 3, the last day to vote early.

This year&squo;s primary for North Carolina is May 6 and it&squo;s anticipated to draw a large turnout for a primary because of the race between democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama.

Early voting is also being done at the Polk County Board of Elections Office, located on the second floor of the Womack Building in Columbus. The elections office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and will be open on May 3 from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.