Early voting numbers continue to climb in DeKalb County, with the total for the first five days reaching 1,500.

The election commission office reports that 413 DeKalb Countians cast votes on Monday, 401 in person and 12 by absentee ballot. A total of 280 voted Saturday, 271 in person and 8 by absentee, with one provisional ballot.

Early voters for the Nov. 8 election totaled 318 on the first day of early voting on Wednesday, with 263 voting in person and 55 absentee votes counted.

The tally on Thursday was 140 early voters.

Meanwhile, early voting hours will be extended two days next week due to issues with a server on Oct 20.

Just prior to early voting time Thursday the server at the election commission office malfunctioned and voting was delayed for 30 minutes to an hour.

“The voting machines were not the problem, but the issue was getting the correct voter data before allowing the voter to cast his/her vote on paper,” said Administrator of Elections Dennis Stanley. “Thanks to the GoVoteTN app, we were soon able to look up a voter, find their correct precinct and then allow them to vote a paper ballot. Then just over two hours after the voting time began, we were able to allow voters to vote on the machine.”

By state law, a voter who casts his/her ballot early cannot vote on a machine unless the election commission can immediately update the voting history by computer. “That’s why a few voters who did not want to wait until the server was up and going had to vote on paper ballot,” Stanley explained.

 As a result of the short down time, the early voting hours will be extended one hour Monday and Friday next week.

“Early voting on Monday, October 24, will be from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and the hours on Friday, October 28 will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.,” Stanley said. Early voting hours the other days will remain the same.

“We appreciate the patience of the voters on Thursday. We know there is a great deal of interest in this election, and we worked very hard to get everything back to normal, and we did in just over two hours,” Stanley said. “Our thanks also to our vendors and the Tennessee Division of Election staff for their assistance.”

Early voting continues through Nov. 3 on the first floor of the DeKalb County Courthouse. Hours are Mondays 1-5 p.m.; Tuesdays 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; Wednesdays 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.; Thursdays 2-6 p.m.; Fridays 9a.m.- 1 p.m.; and Saturdays 9 a.m. – noon.