Early voting has turned into a long wait for some voters and now state election officials are asking their county counterparts to find ways to ease long lines.

State elections executive director Gary Bartlett sent a memo Tuesday to directors in all 100 counties urging them to consider changes that will make voting occur more efficiently and alleviate waits as long as two hours at some locations.

Pitt County elections officials say early voting is on pace to surpass 2008, but says they won't be making changes because they don't seem to be experiencing the problems other counties are.

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- State election officials are asking their county counterparts to find ways to ease long lines at North Carolina's early voting stations.

State elections executive director Gary Bartlett sent a memo Tuesday to directors in all 100 counties urging them to consider changes that will make voting occur more efficiently and alleviate waits as long as two hours at some locations.

More than 600,000 people had voted statewide as of Monday and the total is likely to exceed 2 million before in-person early voting ends Nov. 3.

Bartlett's memo said county boards should consider extending early voting times and adding weekend days. Such decisions would require unanimous approval by a local board.

Bartlett also said counties should consider redistributing voting booths and handing out sample ballots to people in line.