SOUTHEAST N.C. — As summer fades into fall election season is once again upon the residents in the Cape Fear region with several county, state, and national elections on the ballot. With the impact of Hurricane Florence to the Cape Fear region, the North Carolina Board of Elections has created a Voting After Florence page with information for those affected by the storm.
Important dates
- Last day to register to vote Oct. 12, 5 p.m.
- One-stop voting begins Oct. 17
- Deadline to request absentee ballot Oct. 30
- One-stop voting ends Nov. 3
- General election: Nov. 6
One-stop voting
The process of one-stop voting is a combination of early voting where residents can also register to vote all at the same location and the same time. For those residents who fail to register to vote before the Oct. 12 deadline, you can still vote and register at a one-stop location, however, like other forms of absentee voting, the vote will be conditional Rae Hunter-Havens, elections director for New Hanover County said.
“All absentee votes are conditional and have to be approved by the board – make sure they give all the things that we need. We haven’t had a whole lot of problems in our county though,” she said.
One-stop voting is essentially an absentee vote made in person.
“If you choose to vote by the One-Stop absentee method, you simply appear in person at one of the One-Stop voting locations. One-Stop begins on the third Wednesday before an election and ends on the Saturday before the election. One-Stop voting allows voters an opportunity to vote when it best suits individual schedules. At the voting location, you will vote much like you would on Election Day. The difference is you will be required to complete and sign an absentee request application prior to voting. Afterwards, you will be directed to the voting machine to cast your ballot. Once you have submitted your application and executed the process of voting, the county board of elections will review your application and either approve or deny the submission,” according to the NHC Board of Elections website.
A list of one-stop voting locations can also be found online at the website above, for Brunswick County and Pender County locations check each respective website.
Elections
While each county’s ballot will look different depending on where a voter lives, sample ballots can be found for New Hanover County, Brunswick County, and Pender County on their respective websites.
All three counties will have Board of Commissioner elections and sheriff races – but in New Hanover County current Sheriff Ed McMahon is running unopposed.
In Pender County candidates Alan Cutler and Lawrence Fennell will face off for the Sheriff’s office which is set to be vacated by Carson Smith.
Brunswick County’s Sheriff John Ingram will face Charles Warren for the role.
School board candidates are also packing the ballots along with federal government positions and state legislature potions.
