BAY MINETTE, Ala. — Baldwin County voters have the choice of voting early today at Foley Civic Center in the Presidential Preference Primary.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and voters throughout the county may cast their votes there.

On Feb. 5, all precincts in the county will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to Baldwin County Probate Judge Adrian Johns.

Results of today’s vote will be secured in Bay Minette in the sheriff’s evidence locker, and will be tallied Feb. 5 after the polls close.

The vote count will be at the county Administration Building in Bay Minette. After polls close Feb. 5 at 7 p.m., deputies will hand deliver data packs containing voting results to election officials for tallying.

Data packs from each of the 49 precincts will be fed into the county system and results should be posted about five minutes later on the county’s Web site for public viewing.

“It’s the closest we can get to providing instantaneous numbers to the public,” Johns said.

The Web site will list candidates ‘names, positions and vote count by precinct. Numbers for precincts with multiple voting machines will be compiled before Web posting.

For voting results, go to co.baldwin.al.us. Click on Probate, then elections.

Johns said four changes have been made in polling sites:

• Residents who are designated to vote at Pine Grove School will vote at Pine Grove Fire Department;

• The Baldwin County Commission has dissolved the South River Park Church of God precinct in Barnwell and assigned those voters to the Fairhope Civic Center.

• Voters assigned to vote at Fairhope Civic Center will vote at the Nix Center only for the Feb. 5 election due to a Mardi Gras party slated Feb. 4. Johns said there wasn’t enough time to clean the facility and set up election machines and materials by 7 a.m. the next day.

• Voters assigned to precinct No. 45 at Spanish Fort Elementary School will vote at East Pointe Baptist Church on State Road 225 about three miles north of Spanish Fort. Removal of lead contamination at the school required the move, Johns said.

In 2006, the Alabama Legislature adopted Feb. 5 as the date for Alabama’s presidential primaries. Later, legislators discovered that date fell on Fat Tuesday and added legislation providing an additional day of voting for Mobile and Baldwin counties and funding for the added expense, Johns said.

The deadline to apply for absentee ballots was last Thursday. Baldwin County absentee election manager Jane Still said she has mailed about 450 ballots to voters.

Returned ballots must be postmarked by Feb. 4 and received by Feb. 5. Ballots also may be hand delivered to Still at the Baldwin County Courthouse in Bay µMinette by 4:30 p.m. Feb. 4.