Hopefuls to battle for slots on ballot Tuesday
By Steve Herring
Published in News on April 30, 2010 1:46 PM
Turnout has been light for one-stop voting in advance of Tuesday's partisan primary, a trend that is expected to carry over to Election Day. There are no local races on the ballot.
Democratic candidates on Tuesday's ballot are:
* U.S. Senate: Marcus W. Williams, Ann Worthy, Elaine Marshall. Ken Lewis, Susan Harris and Cal Cuningham.
* U.S. House District 1: Chad Larkins and Rep. G.K. Butterfield.
Republican candidates are:
* U.S. Senate: Larry Linney, Brad Jones, Eddie Burks and Sen. Richard Burr.
* U.S. House District 1: Ashley Woolard, Jim Miller, Jerry Grimes and John Carter.
* U.S. House District 3: Craig Weber, Rep. Walter B. Jones and Bob Cavanaugh.
Two court of appeals seats also are on the ballot.
Judge Ann Marie Calabria is facing challengers Mark E. Klass and Jane Gray. Judge Rick Elmore is in a four-way race with Steven Walker, Leto Copeley and Alton D. "Al" Bain.
Board of Elections Director Vickie Reed anticipates a 20 to 30 percent turnout for Tuesday's primary. All 30 of the county's polling places will be open Tuesday from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
"In 2006, we had approximately 21 percent (turnout), but we did not have as many people on the ballot," she said.
As of Thursday afternoon, 485 one-stop votes had been cast -- less than one percent 0f the county's 69,232 eligible registered voters.
One-stop voting continues today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Board of Elections office, 209. S. William St. Saturday is the final day for one-stop voting when the office will be opened from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
During one-stop, people with the proper identification also can register and vote. However, they cannot change their party registration. Same-day registration and voting is not allowed on Election Day.
Monday at 5 p.m. is the deadline for returning absentee ballots by mail. A change in state election laws will allow the ballots to be accepted up to three days following the election, but only if they have an official U.S. postal stamp showing they were mailed no later than Election Day.