Early voting schedule set
Published 6:21 pm Wednesday, January 6, 2016
During its meeting Tuesday afternoon, the Beaufort County Board of Elections chose a schedule for early voting for the upcoming March 15 primaries.
“Option 3 — it was the most hours. What it did, to summarize, is it extends office hours to 6 (p.m.). Their thoughts were that would be beneficial to those who work 8 to 5,” said Kellie Harris Hopkins, the county’s elections director. “It opens three satellite sites.”
Prior to its meeting, the board sought public input regarding the early voting period for the primaries.
Under Option 3 (150 hours), the Board of Elections office will be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. the last Saturday (March 12) of the early voting period. The 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule for that office includes March 3, March 4 and March 7 through March 11. Three satellite offices (Aurora, Belhaven and Chocowinity) would be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 10 and March 11 (Thursday and Friday) and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 12 (Saturday) of the early voting period.
Beginning 12 days before an election, all of the state’s 100 counties must open at least one location where eligible voters can vote early, according to Democracy North Carolina’s website (www.ncvoter.org). That process is also known as one-stop voting.
The board considered two other options. They were:
• Option 1 (114 hours): normal office hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, at the Board of Elections office and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. the last Saturday off the early voting period; two satellite offices (Aurora and Belhaven) would be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. the Thursday and Friday and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. the last Saturday of the early voting period.
• Option 2 (137 hours): normal office hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, at the Board of Elections office and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. the last Saturday of the early voting period; three satellite offices (Aurora, Belhaven and Chocowinity precincts) would be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. the Thursday and Friday and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. the last Saturday of the early voting period.
Absentee voting by mail for statewide primaries begins Jan. 25. The deadline to register to vote in the March 15 statewide primaries is Feb. 19.
About Mike Voss
Mike Voss is the contributing editor at the Washington Daily News. He has a daughter and four grandchildren. Except for nearly six years he worked at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early to mid-1990s, he has been at the Daily News since April 1986.
Journalism awards:
• Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service, 1990.
• Society of Professional Journalists: Sigma Delta Chi Award, Bronze Medallion.
• Associated Press Managing Editors’ Public Service Award.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Public Service Award, 1989.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Investigative Reporting, 1990.
All those were for the articles he and Betty Gray wrote about the city’s contaminated water system in 1989-1990.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1991.
• North Carolina Press Association, Third Place, General News Reporting, 2005.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Lighter Columns, 2006.
Recently learned he will receive another award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Lighter Columns, 2010.
4. Lectured at or served on seminar panels at journalism schools at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Columbia University, Mary Washington University and Francis Marion University.
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