After you cast your vote today, turn that "I voted" sticker into a few freebies.

At least three businesses in the Triangle are advertising rewards for folks who have done their civic duty:

*Sugarland, the cupcake shop with locations on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill and Cameron Village in Raleigh, is giving away free cupcakes to voters.

Bring in your “I voted” sticker and exchange it for a cupcake. Not a cupcake fan? No problem. Ask for a gelato instead.

*Tiajuna Flats locations across the country, including those in Raleigh and Cary, are celebrating "Guac The Vote" today with free appetizers for customers sporting "I voted" stickers. One free appetizer per customer.

*On the Border restaurants are offering a free order of sopapillas on Election Day with the purchase of one or more entrees at regular price. Go to On the Border's Facebook page to get the offer.  There's a limit of one freebie per table.

Do you know of any other Election Day freebies or good deals?

Please share in the comments section.

Voters with questions on election day can call a toll-free hotline staffed by faculty and students from the UNC Chapel Hill School of Law.

The non-partisan hotline will be staffed between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on election day, Nov. 4. The hotline is part of Election Protection, a national voter advocacy effort.

In North Carolina, voters can call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683). Assistance will be available in English and Spanish.

School board members are taking Election Day off but not students at year-round and modified-calendar schools.

The school board rescheduled its Nov. 4 meeting to Nov. 3. Students at traditional-calendar schools are also getting Election Day off. But year-round and modified-calendar schools are open on Nov. 4 on a two-hour delay.

“We decided that it was an important day and didn’t want to meet,” said Rosa Gill, chairwoman of the school board.

I love a good online petition story, so here's another one.

Up at the University of Virginia, some enterprising students have come up with this genius idea: time off to vote on Election Day.

Crazy, you say? Well, an online petition there has more than 2,700 signatures and this very convincing plea:

 "By expressing an understanding of the students' desire to part take in this election, the administration and faculty of UVA will be sending a message indicating the significance of students' actively participating in the electoral process. We do not wish to undermine the importance of attending classes; however, we are in fact acknowledging through formal means the necessity of requesting leniency towards students missing attending classes in the name of our civic duties."

I'm no expert in the electoral processes of county voting boards in Virginia, but here in North Carolina, voting seems pretty easy to me. There's the early voting option, going on now. Many campuses have polling sites for students, and for those who vote off campus, student governments often arrange free shuttle to and from the polls.

And I suppose public university students, particularly those that draw heavily from their own communities, may have a better argument than private colleges who students come from all over.

"I don't know how successful having a day off would be," said Jordan Giordano, Duke's student body president and a native of New Jersey. "So many students here are registered at home or vote early."

There is no campus push similar to the one going on at UVA at either Duke or UNC Chapel Hill. 

There is some Virginia precedent for the UVA idea. At the Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, classes are cancelled on Election Day.  

Election Day is Nov. 4. 

People have another reason to hope that hurricanes don't batter this area too much.

If Wake has to cancel school this week, the first makeup day for traditional-calendar schools is Nov. 4 — Election Day. With more than 60 Wake schools serving as polling places, it could be messy for voters if classes are also in session that day.