The 1950 Humphrey Bogart movie “In a Lonely Place” just might be the movie title to best describe a polling place during today’s primary.

If voter turnout during the recent early voting period for today’s primary to determine political parties’ nominees for the U.S. House of Representatives is any indication, there could be more poll workers at a polling place at any given time than voters. Aside from the congressional primaries, four candidates — Michael R. Morgan, Daniel Roberson, Robert H. Edmunds and Sabra Jean Faires — are competing in a primary for associate justice on the N.C. Supreme Court. The top two vote-getters in the judicial contest will move on to the general election in November.

Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.

In Beaufort County, voters will decide the nominees in the 3^rd Congressional District. Incumbent Walter B. Jones, seeking a 12^th consecutive two-year term, faces challenges from Phil Law and Taylor Griffin in the Republican primary. The winner of that primary takes on the winner of the Democratic primary for the 3^rd District seat in the Nov. 8 general election. David Allan Hurst and Ernest T. Reeves face each other in the Democratic primary. The congressional primaries had been originally scheduled for March 15.

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 today. Under that 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.

Last week, federal judges declined to strike down the new congressional district boundaries being used for today’s primary elections, according to The Associated Press.

A three-judge panel denied the objections filed by attorneys for voters who initially sued in 2013 to challenge the majority-black 1st and 12th districts. In February, the judges agreed the two districts were illegal racial gerrymanders and told the General Assembly to redraw lines within two weeks. Republican redistricting leaders said they didn’t use racial demographics in drawing the new plan.

Lawmakers delayed the March 15 congressional primary to today, when primaries will be held in 11 of North Carolina’s 13 districts. In-person early voting began May 26.

The plaintiffs argued in court filings that the new boundaries also were unconstitutional and should be rejected, and asked the judges to redraw the lines themselves. Writing for the panel, U.S. Circuit Judge Roger Gregory determined that those who sued hadn’t sufficiently offered a legal theory why the new plan violates their voting rights.

Also, after today, two voting-related provisions — same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting — would not be allowed in subsequent elections and primaries. Those provisions were results of a preliminary injunction, granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, during litigation challenging changes the North Carolina General Assembly made to the state’s election laws in 2013.

In late April, U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder ruled against the U.S. Justice Department, the North Carolina NAACP chapter and several voters who sued, alleging election-law changes that became law in 2013 were passed to discriminate against poor and minority voters in violation of the Constitution and U.S. Voting Rights Act. Those plaintiffs are appealing the judge’s ruling.

 

Beaufort County polling places

 

Aurora: Aurora Commu­nity Building, 442 Third St.

Beaver Dam: Grange building, 4341 Terrapin Track Road, Washington.

Belhaven: John A. Wilkinson Center, 144 W. Main St.

Blounts Creek: Blounts Creek Volunteer Fire Department, 13965 E. N.C. Highway 33.

Chocowinity: Chocowin­ity Volunteer Fire Depart­ment, 512 E. N.C. Highway 33.

Edward: Edward Christian Church, 23 S. Academy St.

Gilead: Chocowin­ity Volunteer Fire Depart­ment, 512 E. N.C. Highway 33, Chocowinity. (Gilead shares polling place with Chocowinity, but there are separate voting areas for each precinct.)

Hunter’s Bridge: Free Union Free Will Baptist Church, 4961 Free Union Church Road, Pinetown.

Old Ford: Old Ford Ruri­tan building, 48 N.C. High­way 171, Washington.

North Creek: Bethany United Methodist Church fellowship hall, 2766 S. Savannah Road, Bel­haven.

Pantego: Pantego Munici­pal Building, 142 Swamp Road.

Pinetown: Pinetown Volunteer Fire Depart­ment, 7262 N. Boyd Road, Pinetown.

River Road: Bunyan Ruri­tan building, 60 Glen Haven Road, Washington.

Surry-Bath: Bath Ruritan building, 504 Carteret St., Bath.

Tranter’s Creek: Clark’s Neck Fire Department, 7182 Wharton Station Road, Washington.

Washington Ward 1: Red­men’s Lodge, 403 E. Third St.

Washington Ward 2: Washington Fire-Rescue- EMS Department, 410 N. Market St.

Washington Ward 3 (P.S. Jones): Beaufort County boys & Girls Club 1089 Bridge St.

Washington Ward 4: Bobby Andrews Recreation Center, 231 E. Seventh St.

Washington Park: Wash­ington Park Municipal Building, 408 Fairview Ave.

Woodard’s Pond: Bunyan Volunteer Fire Depart­ment, 8264 Broad Creek Road, Washington.

The Beaufort County Board of Elections is locat­ed at 1308 Highland Drive, Suite 104, Washington.