Numbers of North Dakotans casting early ballots continue to grow around the state while local county auditors are making sure they have enough ballots ready for what's expected to be a busy Election Day.

As of Thursday, more than 76,000 people have cast an early vote for the 2008 election - that's about a quarter of the total number of voters from the 2004 election.

In Burleigh County, Auditor Kevin Glatt said nearly 2,000 people have cast an early ballot and another 8,000 have sent in an application for an absentee ballot. In Morton County, Auditor Paul Trauger said they've collected about 2,700 ballots.

"It's really picked up this week, and it's been very busy today," Glatt said.

But the high early turnout doesn't necessarily mean the 2008 election will set a new North Dakota record number of voters, it could just mean more people are taking advantage of early and absentee voting, said Secretary of State Al Jaeger.

Jaeger said the six counties offering early voting precincts have only begun to do so in recent election cycles.

North Dakota's highest voter turnout was in 1984 when 69 percent of the voting population cast a ballot. In 2004, 65 percent turned out.

Glatt said Burleigh County will have more than 50,000 ballots on hand for Election Day for an anticipated 43,000 plus voters. In Morton County, Trauger said they will have about 22,000 ballots on hand for an expected 14,000 or more voters.

Polling hours for Burleigh County are:

n From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Friday.

n From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

n From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday.

n From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Election Day, Tuesday.

Voters in Morton County can go to the county auditor's office to pick up a ballot and cast it early. Hours available are:

n From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.

n From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday.

n From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday.

Election Day polling hours for Morton County:

n From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Any voter standing in line before the 7 p.m. deadline must be allowed to vote.

(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@;bismarcktribune.com.)