Early voting in Beaufort County is going strong, with 1,950 people marking ballots as of 4:25 p.m. Friday, according to the Beaufort County Board of Elections.

On Thursday, the first day of early voting, 1,153 voters marked ballots. On the first day of early voting in the 2012 general election, 1,135 voters market ballots, according to Kellie Harris Hopkins, elections director for Beaufort County.

“But, keep in mind, that in 2012 we had 17 days. This time we only have 10. So, it’s forcing a higher turnout. We really just can’t compare it to any other year — general election — because we haven’t had a shortened one-stop,” Hopkins said Friday afternoon. “Even if we vote a thousand a day for nine days, because we’re closed on Sunday, that’s only 9,000. If 9,000 is all that comes out, then that’s less than 2012.”

Although the number of early voting days is reduced by seven, from 17 to 10, boards of elections must be open for early voting the same number of hours they were open when early voting took place over 17 days, according to Hopkins.

“It’s been very steady. We’ve had minimal lines. The booths are staying full because we have longer ballots (than usual). It’s taking voters longer to mark the ballot because there’s so many contests on it,” she said Friday.

The board’s office and the three satellite locations will be open a total of 192 hours for early voting this election cycle, 102 hours at the office and 90 hours (combined) at the three satellite locations. The board’s office, at Suite 104, 1308 Highland Drive, Washington, will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and Oct. 27-31 and from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 1. It will be closed Sunday. The satellite sites will be open three days for early voting. They will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 28 and Oct. 30 and from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 1.

In Beaufort County, satellite early voting sites will be open on a limited bases. Those sites are in Aurora, Belhaven and Chocowinity. The Aurora site is located at the Aurora Community Building, 442 Third St. The Belhaven site is located at the John A. Wilkinson Center, 144 W. Main St. The Chocowinity site is located at the Chocowinity Volunteer Fire Department, 512 E. N.C. Highway 33 East.

To keep track of absentee and early voting numbers, visit www.beaufortncboe.com and click on “absentee data” under the Quick Links section on the left side of the homepage.