We’re three days into the New Year, which means that early voting for the March 5 primary elections is a mere 43 days away. Vance County voters will have two locations to cast their votes early, but neither of them is the Henderson Operations Center.
Early voters will go to either Aycock Rec Center, 307 Carey Chapel Rd. or the Eaton Johnson gymnasium, located at 500 N. Beckford Dr., according to information from Vance County elections officials.
“The decision for two early voting sites was made by the Board to increase accessibility considering this is a Presidential election year,” said Vance County Board of Elections Director Jennifer Cocklin, whenthere usually is a higher voter turnout.
Early voting begins on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, and continues through Saturday, Mar. 2, 2024, according to a notice issued by Vance County Board of Elections Chair James R. Baines.
In an email to WIZS News on Wednesday, City Manager Terrell Blackmon said the city reached an agreement with county officials to move the early voting site away from the city’s operations center for a simple, practical reason: “The City has run out of file and storage space in other parts of the building and we desperately need to utilize all available space in our facility for engineering and public works,” Blackmon said.
“There is no dissatisfaction by the City. We just need the space,” he added.
Blackmon went on to say that there is plenty of parking at the Eaton Johnson gymnasium to accommodate voters who come early to cast their ballots in the Mar. 5 primary.
The notices from the Board of Elections remind voters that they will be asked to show a photo ID when they come in to cast their ballot. If for some reason they don’t have one with them, they can still have their vote counted if they sign a form explaining why they are unable to show ID, or by casting a provisional ballot and returning to the Board of Elections office with their ID no later than 5 p.m. on Mar. 14, 2024.
Voters also can request a free photo ID from their local Board of Elections office. Find out more at https://www.ncsbe.gov/voting/voter-id
Below are the dates and times for early voting at both locations:
Thursday, Feb. 15 – 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 16 – 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 19 – Friday, Feb. 23 – 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 26-Friday, Mar. 1 – 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, 02-March 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Absentee ballots will be mailed to voters who have requested them beginning Jan. 19, 2024. Absentee ballots must be received by the county board of elections no later than 7:30 p.m. on March 5, 2024. A voter can fill out an absentee ballot request at https://votebymail.ncsbe.gov/app/home, or by filling out a request form provided by the county Board of Elections office. The request must be received through the website or by the Vance County Board of Elections by 5 p.m. Feb. 27, 2024.
The voter registration deadline for this election is 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. Eligible individuals who are not registered by that deadline may register and vote at any early voting site during the early voting period. New registrants will be required to provide current documentation of their residence (for example, a government ID, other government document, or a paycheck, bank statement, or utility bill). Voters who wish to change party affiliation must do so by the Feb. 9 deadline.
In the primary election, voters will select nominees for a political party to move on to the general election on Nov. 5. Contests on the ballot include U.S. President, U.S. House, N.C. Governor and other Council of State Offices, N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice, N.C. Court of Appeals, N.C. House and Senate and county offices. In the primary, voters affiliated with a political party will be given a ballot of candidates for their party, if their party has a primary. Unaffiliated voters may choose to vote in any party’s primary, but they may select only one party’s ballot.
To learn more, call the Vance County Board of Elections Office at 252.492.3730 or send an email to vance.boe@vancecounty.org.
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