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I recently stopped by the Board of Elections to say hello to Kelly Hopkins and Anita Bullock. Both Kelly, director, and Anita, deputy director, have been at the Board of Elections for a long time and are experienced with what they do. I have an extreme amount of confidence in the Beaufort County Board of Elections and the work they do.

Each county in North Carolina has a Board of Elections. The Board consists of four members plus a chairman. They serve two-year terms. The present Board includes Tom Payne III, chairman, and members John Tate III, Renee Singleton, Brownie Futrell and Marcia Moore.

The Board of Elections (BOE) website states the following;

“Our office is responsible for conducting all elections held in Beaufort County. Locally, we administer Federal and State election laws. Our principal functions include establishing election precincts and voting sites, appointing and training precinct officials, preparing and distributing ballots, voting equipment, canvassing and certifying the ballots cast in elections, and investigating any voting irregularities. We maintain voter registration for Beaufort County and provide public information on voters and elections.”

The Board of Elections has a lot of work to do with limited resources. It has a tremendous amount of work to do around each and every election. It is more intense when there are run-offs, which happen often, and recounts of close elections.

The main reason I stopped by the Board of Elections was to find out the dates for candidate filing for the 2025 municipal elections. Candidate filing starts Monday, July 7 at 8 a.m. and ends Friday, July 18 at 12 noon.

In 2025, there are elections in all Beaufort County municipalities. These include Aurora, Bath, Belhaven, Chocowinity, Pantego, Washington and Washington Park.

In some years, it has been difficult to find candidates for all offices in the municipalities but normally there are enough. Serving your community can be extremely rewarding.

All municipal races are nonpartisan and there is no primary. All you have to do is sign up and you are a candidate. Municipal races include smaller areas than countywide races. It’s possible to go door-to-door and hold meet and greets.

I believe the Washington races are going to be the most interesting this year. Washington has several issues including 15th Street, 5^th Street, the airport and Senior Center. Storm water and zoning can always be issues. The narrowing of 5^th Street increased the problems with traffic on 15^th Street.

In 2023, they had two candidates for mayor, Bobby Roberson and Donald Sadler. Donald Sadler, the incumbent, won. There were eleven candidates for city council, the top five won. In 2025, there will be many candidates for city council. I don’t know if Donald Sadler will have an opponent.

Chocowinity has issues concerning the EMS, budget and taxes.

Municipal elections normally have low turnout. A strong candidate can affect turnout. Beaufort County has many people who could be a strong candidate. Are you the person who could run for office, win and have a positive effect on your community?

It seems like a long time until July 7 registration but time flies. Think about it; you could be a candidate in the 2025 municipal elections.