We’re all encouraged to vote early in order to alleviate possible crushes at the polls on Election Day itself.

Early voting began yesterday and will end on Friday, October 31. Here’s a list of the polling places for early voting, and any registered voter may vote at any of them, whereas on Election Day we are expected to vote at our precinct polling places. A good nonpartisan guide to the candidates’ positions and to the issues on the ballot is on line courtesy of the League of Women Voters.

I like to vote at the court house but today it was easy to vote at the Ruiz branch of the library, another favorite place. I love the genial election people at both locations. At slightly before noon, the tally at Ruiz for today’s voters stood at 65. I saw several voters who had never voted before. All voter stands remained busy, but the line of chairs for waiting voters never served more than one person while I was observing.

As a reward for having voted, there was a quick-stop at the Dairy Queen just off Riverside on Town Creek Drive. I liked it that the doorway to the restrooms was ornamented with safety tape that said “enter at your own risk.” That was just one of the festive decorations for Halloween.