More than 10,570 Columbus residents so far have cast ballots early for the Nov. 6 general election, the Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registrations announced Monday as another week of early voting began.

The Georgia Secretary of State's office said Friday that statewide, more than 328,500 people had voted, according to The Atlanta Journal-Con

stitution.

This is Georgia's second-to-last week of early voting, which ends Nov. 2. Residents voting absentee by mail may send in their ballots over the next three days after that, but after Nov. 2 no in-person voting will occur again until Election Day, when 27 Muscogee County precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

This coming weekend will be the last chance for those who'd rather vote on a Saturday. The Columbus Public Library at 3000 Macon Road will be open for voting from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day.

This past Saturday, 837 people voted at the library, which is averaging about 800 a day, said Nancy Boren, the elections board executive director,

Those choosing the Columbus Government Center elections office this week should remember that the center's west wing entrance off First Avenue is open for voters only, so they don't have to drive around to the tower or east wing entrances.

Boren has encouraged voters to cast ballots early to avoid lines that may form at the polls on Election Day if people get stuck reading two state constitutional amendments and six city charter changes. The Columbus ballot also has a referendum on whether to allow the off-premise sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays.

Registered voters can download sample ballots in PDF format online at the Georgia Secretary of State's "MyVoter" page, mvp.sos.state.ga.us.

Noting Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's name appears above President Barack Obama's, some voters have asked why their ballots don't list candidates in alphabetical order or with incumbents first.

Georgia law requires that candidates be listed according to the party the governor belongs to, so Republican candidates' names come first because Gov. Nathan Deal is a Republican, Boren said.