County voters may begin marking ballots Thursday

Published 7:10 pm Monday, April 16, 2018

Early voting for the May 8 primaries begins Thursday and continues through May 5.

Beaufort County voters may mark ballots from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 5 at the Beaufort County Board of Elections office, 1308 Highland Drive, Suite 104, Washington. Early voting is set for 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 4 and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 5 at satellite sites in Aurora, Belhaven and Chocowinity.

The Aurora site is at the Aurora Community Building, 442 Third St. The Belhaven site is at the John A. Wilkinson Center, 144 W. Main St. The Chocowinity site is at the Chocowin­ity Volunteer Fire Depart­ment, 512 N.C. Highway 33 East.

In Beaufort County, several primaries will be conducted. One primary is for the Democratic candidates seeking to become Beaufort County sheriff. Those candidates William Chrismon, Petre E. Franks and Al J. Whitney had filed for that office.

In his re-election bid, incumbent Sheriff Ernie Coleman faces a Republican primary challenge from Donald Dixon.

The winners of those two primaries will face each other in the Nov. 6 general election.

A primary for Democrats seeking to represent District 79 in the N.C. House of Representatives has Beaufort County resident Jerry Langley, who is a county commissioner, and Bryson Kiel Jones, a Craven County resident, in a two-man contest. The district includes all of Beaufort County and the northern section of Craven County. Because of redistricting, that district has no incumbent representative.

A primary to determine the Republican nominee to represent District 79 was avoided when James Chesnutt, citing personal reasons, withdrew as a candidate earlier this month.

The winners of those two primaries take on each other in the general election.

A primary for Republican candidates seeking to represent North Carolina’s 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives has incumbent Walter B. Jones Jr. facing challenges from Phil Law and Scott Charles Dacey.

 

On March 19, absentee ballots for the May 8 primaries started being mailed. Requests for an absentee ballot must be made on an absentee request form and received in the Beaufort County Board of Elections offices or any early voting site by 5 p.m. May 1. The absentee voting process requires the voter to complete an application on the return envelope that must be witnessed by two qualified persons or a notary public. Completed absentee ballots must be returned to the Beaufort County Board of Elections 5 p.m. election Day (ballots received by mail after this time will be accepted if received within three business days and postmarked by Election Day).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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