Voters will cast ballots in Starling/LaRoque race
By Andrew Bell
Published in News on September 11, 2006 1:47 PM
Voters in four eastern Wayne County precincts can go to the polls Tuesday to help decide who will be the Republican candidate for the District 10 seat in the state House of Representatives in November.
Polls will open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.
Wayne voters can cast ballots at Spring Creek, New Hope Friends Church, Dudley Fire Station and Indian Springs Fire Station. All Greene County polling places will be open and those Lenoir precincts included in the district.
The vote is a repeat of the May primary ordered by the state Board of Elections after voting problems in Lenoir disallowed the result that gave Willie Ray Starling a narrow victory over incumbent Rep. Stephen LaRoque.
Voters eligible to cast ballots Tuesday must be registered Republicans or unaffiliated voters who did not vote a Democratic ballot in May.
Early one-stop voting started two weeks ago.
Of the 4,042 eligible Wayne County voters, Wayne Board of Elections Director Gary Sims said 73 had cast ballots as of today. Lenoir County Board of Elections officials said 389 residents cast early ballots, along with 17 voters in Greene County. About 80 percent of the voters in District 10 live in Lenoir.
If someone is unsure of their eligibility to vote, he or she can choose to cast a provisional ballot, Sims said, and election officials will determine afterward if the were eligible.
Sims said he and his staff have worked with the state Board of Elections to make sure who is eligible to vote in Wayne.
Each county's Board of Elections will hold a canvass Friday to make the results official.
It will be the third time the two candidates have squared off. LaRoque defeated Starling in 2004 en route to winning his seat.
The winner of Tuesday's matchup will face Democrat Van Braxton of Kinston in November. Braxton, a former member of the Kinston City Council, had no primary opponent.
For more information on precincts, eligibility and voter registration, call the Wayne County Board of Elections office at 731-1411.