Municipal elections are Nov. 8
By Andrew Bell
Published in News on October 24, 2005 2:05 PM
Residents of Wayne County's municipalities, except Goldsboro, will go to the polls Nov. 8 to choose representatives for their town boards.
Municipal elections will be held in Mount Olive, Pikeville, Eureka, Seven Springs and Walnut Creek. The election of representatives to the Belfast-Patetown, Eastern Wayne, Fork, Southeastern and Southern Wayne sanitary districts also will be held.
Gary Sims, director of the Wayne County Board of Elections, said he expects the largest voter turnouts to be in Mount Olive and Pikeville.
In Mount Olive, the largest municipality in the county behind Goldsboro, all six seats on the town board are up for election and are being contested.
In Pikeville, not only are several seats on the town board to be decided, voters will decide whether off-premises sales of beer and wine will be permitted at stores inside the town limits.
Turnout in the other towns could be less. In Eureka, for example, no candidates have filed for a seat on the town board and the make-up of the board is likely to be determined by write-in ballots.
One-stop voting started Thursday. Registered voters who are eligible to cast ballots in the Nov. 8 elections can do so before that date at the Board of Elections office at 209 S. William St.
Only two people had taken advantage of the chance to vote early as of Friday.
"When it is closer to election day, the voter turnout picks up," Sims said. "With no Goldsboro election, it's not as convenient for everyone to come to the office and vote."
The computerized, one-stop voting process requires the participant to simply state his or her name and address. Then the office attendant ensures the voter is qualified. The process is completed when the selection is made and placed in the tabulator.
For potential voters unable to get to the polls, absentee ballots are available. Sims said the voter must mail the office a written request for the ballot containing the person's name, address, date of birth and signature. As long as the request is received by Nov. 1, the office will be able to provide the ballot.
However, a resident of Wayne County cannot participate in the Nov. 8 election without being a registered voter for at least 30 days prior to the election.
For more information on the candidates, election information, voting districts, absentee information and voter registration, visit the Board of Election's web site at www.waynegov.com/boe or call Sims at 731-1411.
These are the polling places that will be open for the Nov. 8 elections. All polling places will be open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.
*Fremont Fire Station
*Eureka United Methodist Church
*Little River Fire Station
*Pikeville Fire Station
*Belfast Fire Station
*Saulston Fire Station
*New Hope Fire Station
*Oakland Fire Station
*Westwood Methodist Church
*Family Y
*Oak Forest Church of Christ
*New Hope Friends Church
*Spring Creek High School
*American Legion Post 11
*Goldsboro Wesleyan Church
*Mount Olive Civic Center
*Dudley Fire Station
*Brogden Middle School
*Indian Springs Fire Station
*Southern Academy.