Primary
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 13, 2016 1:45 AM
Nearly 10,000 voters cast ballots during the 10 days of one-stop early voting in advance of this Tuesday's primary election headlined by the presidential races.
That is nearly 2,000 ballots more than in the 2012 primary with close to 1,000 alone cast during just the final four hours of one-stop voting on Saturday.
"It is substantially higher than in 2012," Wayne County Elections Director Dane Beavers said. "It is obviously a primary record for Wayne County. It is really good, and it is what I was hoping for, that about 10,000 people vote early. If I can get another 10,000 or 15,000 on election day, we will be looking at 35 percent. I was expecting between 30 and 40 percent.
"It is hard to tell because this election is so different than in the past. But we are going to be a little bit higher than normal."
Beavers is encouraging voters to turn out on Tuesday, when all county polling locations will be open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.
He also reminds voters they will be required to furnish a valid photo ID.
There are only a handful of local races Tuesday along with a $2 billion statewide bond issue.
All seven seats on the Wayne County Board of Commissioners are up for election, and all seven incumbents have filed.
But only District 3 Commissioner John Bell, a Democrat, of Goldsboro, has any primary opposition.
Constance Bryant Coram of Goldsboro, originally filed for register of deeds only to withdraw her candidacy to file against Bell.
There is no Republican opposition in the Nov. 8 general election.
At least three candidates had to file for a nonpartisan office to necessitate a primary. In the nonpartisan races voters select their top two candidates in each race.
The most crowded local race is for the District 3 seat on the nonpartisan Wayne County Board of Education.
Incumbent Patricia Burden is facing challenges from Trebor J. Jackson, Charles Wright Sr. and Taj Jamal Polack, all of Goldsboro.
District 8-B Superior Court Judge Arnold O. Jones of Pikeville will face off against former Superior Court Judge Jerry Braswell and Goldsboro attorney Will Bland.
Beavers also is encouraging voters to mark their choices in the congressional races even though the state has redrawn district maps to comply with a court order.
Wayne County had been split between House District 1, represented by Democrat G.K. Butterfield of Wilson, and District 13, represented by Republican George Holding of Raleigh.
The county is now completely in District 7 that is represented by Republican David Rouzer.
Along with drawing up new district lines, the Legislature eliminated any runoff elections that would have been held in May that would have been the runoff for the spring primaries.
If the new lines stand, a special congressional primary will be held June 7.
District 21 Rep. Larry M. Bell of Clinton is being challenged by Scotty L. Smith of Warsaw in the Democratic primary. There is no Republican opposition in November.
District 13 Congressman George Holding, a Republican of Raleigh, has no primary challenge. However, two Democrats have filed as well -- Ron Sanyal and John P. McNeil, both of Raleigh.
In another race of local interest, retired Superior Court Judge Paul Wright of Mount Olive has filed for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Richard Burr, who is seeking re-election. Both are Republicans.
Of the 9,621 people who voted during one stop, 5,267 were Democrats; 4,302 were Republicans; 40 were unaffiliated; and 12 were Libertarian.
White voters outnumbered blacks, 5,898 to 3,401 and more women voted than men, 5,316 to 4,163.
Overall it was an "awesome" election considering what the county and poll workers were up against with all of the new laws, new forms, new documents as well as rules that are pending and others that are being challenged, Beavers said.
"We had almost no problems with IDs," he said.
Beavers said he could recall only one problem, but it was one in which the voter had the intention to "make a scene" over voter ID.
"Out of 10,000 voters, that is a pretty good number," Beavers said. "People had no problem with it. People showed their IDs."
The voter told poll voters he had a photo ID, but refused to provide it. The voter also used a racial slur in talking with the poll worker, Beavers said.
But even then he was allowed to cast a provisional ballot. A voter is allowed to cast a provisional ballot when there is a question about their eligibility.
Only 20 provisional ballots were cast, a lot less than had been expected, Beavers said.
The Board of Elections determines if a provisional ballot is counted.
Also, approximately 100 voters did same-day registration and voted, he said. Same-day registration is not allowed during the Tuesday primary.
Tuesday's elections results will be posted in real time online and links to the postings can be found at waynevotes.com.