WILMINGTON — New Hanover County will have five early-voting sites to choose from starting October 18.
The New Hanover County Board of Elections on August 31 voted unanimously to locate a new one-stop voting site at Cape Fear Community College’s North Campus to increase access to a busy general-election ballot, one that will feature contests for president, governor, and three county commission seats, among many others.
The one-stop sites, which will operate from October 18-November 3, are:
- New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive;
- New Hanover County Library, 201 Chestnut Street;
- New Hanover County Senior Resource Center, 2222 South College Road;
- Carolina Beach Municipal Building, 1121 N. Lake Park Boulevard, Carolina Beach;
- Cape Fear Community College’s North Campus, 4500 Blue Clay Road.
At one-stop voting, an eligible resident may register to vote and cast a ballot at once, even if the normal voter-registration deadline has passed. Voters already on the roll are also welcome.
County elections director Marvin McFadyen said a request from voters to add an early-voting site to the UNCW campus was not successful. “We received confirmation back that UNCW did not have space to meet our needs,” he told board members at their August 31 meeting. The campus’s Warwick Center, however, will remain an Election Day polling place.
As it is, the map of one-stop voting sites in New Hanover County is admirable, board member Bill Kopp said at the board’s August 31 meeting. “It fairly depicts the voting sites that we have and how they are strategically placed to the north, down to the south at Carolina Beach, and in between. And I think if the general public can see that, they can see that we have spread it out, throughout the county.”
Communicating that would be part of the county’s greater effort to educate the public ahead of Election Day, November 6, McFadyen said. His office is working with UNCW toward a voting-essentials webpage for students and transportation from campus to the county government center’s one-stop site.
The county is also working with Wave Transit to route city buses to voting places and advertise elections info on the sides of those buses, potentially at no cost.
Other plans include an educational open house, at a date to be determined, for candidates and voters. McFadyen said he also wanted to meet with media organizations to make sure the public will get essential and accurate information.
“We’re trying to work at least on our outreach efforts to provide the most opportunity and education that we can,” McFadyen said.
Persons may learn more about the upcoming election and voting opportunities at the New Hanover County Board of Elections’ webpage.
