Some Beaufort County residents who are (or will be) out of the country during the June 7 primary and meet certain requirements will be able to vote in that primary.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act requires states to allow certain voters who are absent from their county of residence to have special rights that provide an expedited means for them to register and vote by mail-in absentee ballot. In order to qualify under the provisions of UOCAVA in this state, a voter must be a legal resident of North Carolina. Citizens covered by UOCAVA include:

• a member of the active or reserve components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard who is on active duty;

• a member of the U.S. Merchant Marine, the commissioned corps of the U.S. Public Health Service or the commissioned corps of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States;

• a member of the National Guard or state militia unit who is on activated status;

• a spouse or dependent of a uniformed services member as listed above;

• U.S. citizens residing outside the United States.

The Beaufort County Board of Elections’ website — http://www.beaufortncboe.org — includes the UOCAVA election notice for the upcoming primary.

The June 7 primary will determine nominees for North Carolina’s 13 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. When it comes to the Republican primary to choose the GOP nominee for the 3^rd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, the lineup is the same as it was after the initial filing period ended Dec. 21, 2015.

Incumbent Walter B. Jones, seeking a 12^th consecutive two-year term, faces challenges from Phil Law and Taylor Griffin. The winner of the June 7 GOP primary takes on the winner of the Democratic primary for the 3^rd District seat. David Allan Hurst and Ernest T. Reeves face each other in the Democratic primary.

Four of the five candidates (Reeves did not file in the initial filing period) were forced to re-file as the result of a ruling by a three-member panel of judges declared two of North Carolina’s 13 congressional districts, including the 1^st District, unconstitutional because race was used in setting their boundaries and set Feb. 19 as the deadline for redrawn district maps to be submitted. As a result of that ruling, the North Carolina General Assembly approved a new map depicting the state’s 13 congressional districts. The new maps place all of Beaufort County in the 3^rd District. Previously, part of the county was in the 3^rd District and the remaining part of the county was in the 1^st District, represented by U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Democrat.

At that time, the Legislature delayed the primaries for the U.S. House until June 7. Under that new plan, the candidate receiving the most votes in a primary would automatically win the primary and would not have to receive at least 40 percent of the votes cast, an exception to existing state law.

Across the state, 76 candidates filed for the U.S. House, where representatives serve two-year terms. Twenty-two of those candidates (17 of them Republicans) filed for the 13^th District seat.

Voters also will select from four candidates to serve as an associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court. The candidates are Michael Morgan, Daniel Robertson, Robert Edmunds and Sabra Faires. Edmunds’ current term on the court ends this year.

Absentee voting is under way for the June 7 primary.

For additional information about UOCAVA, visit http://www.fvap.gov/info/laws/uocava