More than 7,200 have voted
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 28, 2014 1:46 PM
More than 7,200 ballots have been cast in one-stop, or early voting, through Monday prior to the mid-term general election that will be held Tuesday, Nov. 4.
All of the county's polling places will be open on Election Day from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.
One-stop voting began last Thursday and continues through this Saturday at the Veterans Service Office at 2001 E. Ash St.; the Belfast Fire Station at 3212 U.S. 117 North; the Little River Shopping Center at 1312-C W. Grantham St.; New Hope Friends Church at 4451 U.S. 70 East; and at the Mount Olive Civic Center at 110 W. Main St.
The weekday hours are from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. and from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Slightly more than 37 percent, or 2,700, of the ballots cast have been at the Veterans Services Office. That location was the only one of the five early-voting sites countywide that was open on Sunday, when 599 people voted.
Through Monday, 7,286 ballots had been cast -- nearly 10 percent of the county's approximately 73,000 eligible voters.
The vote total so far includes 3,555 Democrats, 2,723 Republicans, 1,001 unaffiliated, and seven independent.
The number of white voters is nearly double that of black voters, 4,660 to 2,451.
Also, women are outvoting men, 3,919 to 3,319.
People going to the polls can expect to see changes as the result of new legislation that reduced the number of days to 10 and eliminated same-day registration.
The new law that requires voters to show a photo identification prior to voting does not go into effect until 2016. However, voters can expect to be asked by election officials if they currently have the ID that will be required for 2016.
Voters who do not have the ID will be asked to sign their one-stop application, and information about obtaining an ID prior to 2016 will be provided.
The statistics for each day are posted at www.waynegov.com/Page/974.
People can also go to www.waynevotesearly.com for sample ballots and to look up their registration information, including the districts and precinct they are in.