That's right, vote. You don't have to wait until Nov. 7. You can beat the rush and vote today at a county clerk's office. In Salt Lake and Davis counties, you also can vote at a satellite voting location.

Then you can ignore the final frantic two weeks of the campaign and concentrate instead on the World Series or carving your Halloween pumpkin.

The big reason to vote early is to avoid the lines on Nov. 7. Because touch-screen voting machines will replace the familiar punch-card ballots, it may take individual voters longer to cast their ballots than in the past. That could mean long lines at polling places on Election Day, particularly at rush hours before and after work.

There also will be fewer voting machines at the polls. There were 5,000 punch-card devices under the old system in Salt Lake County; there are only 3,000 touch screens. The reason is that the newfangled touch screens cost about $3,000 apiece.

So Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen is urging people to vote early. Be sure to take a photo ID with you.

The satellite polling places for early voting will be open today through Friday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

The satellite locations in Salt Lake County this week include:

Murray City Hall, 5025 S. State St.;

Riverton City Hall, 12830 S. Redwood Road;

Taylorsville City Hall, 2600 W. Taylorsville Blvd. (5400 South);

Bingham Creek Library, 4834 W. 9000 South;

Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center, 7500 S. 2700 East.

In addition, you can vote at the county clerk's office, 2001 S. State St., South Building, Room S1003, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturday and Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Next week, five different satellite locations will be open Oct. 30-Nov. 2 from 2-7 p.m. daily and Nov. 3 from noon to 5 p.m. They include:

Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center, 5624 S. 4800 West;

West Valley City Hall, 3600 S. Constitution Blvd. (2700 West);

Central City Recreation Center, 615 S. 300 East;

Northwest Recreation Center and Pool, 1300 W. 300 North;

Sandy Library, 10100 S. Petunia Way (1405 East).

Save yourself some time in line. Vote early.