A little more than 200 Beaufort County voters cast ballots in the first two days of early voting in a primary election that features campaigns for president, governor, Congress, state Legislature and county commissioner.

It’s an amendment to the state Constitution that has attracted the attention of most voters who came to the Beaufort County Board of Elections off of Highland Drive Thursday and Friday, according to elections officials.

In that referendum, voters statewide are being asked to choose whether they are for or against a constitutional amendment “to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.”

A second referendum on the ballot asks Beaufort County voters to choose whether they are for or against a “local sales and use tax at the rate of one-quarter percent (0.25%) in addition to all other State and local sales and use taxes.”

All registered voters are eligible to cast ballots for the constitutional amendment and county sales- and use-tax issue.

On Thursday, the first day of early voting, 109 voters cast ballots and by 3:30 p.m. On Friday, a nearly equal number had gone to the polls bringing the total number of votes cast to that point in the first two days to 207.

There are 32,815 registered voters in Beaufort County, according to elections officials.

In the first day of early voting during the 2008 primary election — also a year when voters cast ballots for a president and a governor — 74 people went to the polls. In the first day of voting in the 2010 primary election, 86 people went to the polls, according to elections officials.

“We’re on target for primary elections,” said Kellie Harris Hopkins, Beaufort County’s elections director.

In addition to the two referenda, Beaufort County voters are choosing among slates of Democratic and Republican candidates who will represent their parties in the November election.

Those races include president, governor, lieutenant governor, members of the Council of State, U.S. House of Representatives, one state senator, two members of the N.C. House of Representatives and the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners.

In Democratic and Republican primaries, voters will choose four Democrats and four Republicans to vie in the Nov. 6 general election for the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners from among a crowded field of 13 candidates.

Six Democrats and seven Republicans are seeking their party’s nomination to vie in November for four seats on the county board.

The Democratic candidates include Lloyd Ballance, Robert Belcher, Mickey Cochran, Carolyn W. Harding, Wayne Sawyer and incumbent Jerry E. Langley, who currently serves as chairman of the board. The Republican candidates include incumbents Jay McRoy and Hood Richardson and Gary Brinn, Larry Britt, Donald Dixon, Rick Gagliano and Tony “T.J.” Keech Jr.

In the 1st District race for the N.C. Senate, two Beaufort County Republicans, Jerry Evans and Bill Cook, are vying for the Republican nomination. The GOP nominee will face incumbent Sen. Stan White of Nags Head who is unopposed for the Democratic Party nomination.

Three Republicans are vying for their party’s nomination in the race to represent the 3rd District in the N.C. House of Representatives. They include Wayne Langston of Chocowinity, Michael Speciale of New Bern and Cayton Tripp of Vanceboro. In November, the GOP nominee will face Robert Cayton of Edward. Cayton is unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Three Republicans are vying for their party’s nomination in race to represent the 6th District in the N.C. House of Representatives. They are Jeremy D. Adams of Nags Head, Mattie Jane Lawson of Kill Devil Hills and Arthur J. Williams III of Washington. The winner will face Democrat Paul N. Tine in the November general election.

In the Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District race, incumbent U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield of Wilson faces a challenge from Dan Whittacre of Henderson. The winner will vie against Republican Pete DiLauro in November.

In the Republican primary for the 3rd Congressional District, incumbent U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones of Farmville faces a challenge from Frank Palombo of New Bern. The winner will vie against Democrat Erik Anderson of Winterville who is running unopposed in that party’s primary election.

Early voting information

One-stop, walk-in voting is under way at the Beaufort County Board of Elections office off of Highland Drive and Cowell Farm Road in Washington from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 5, when early voting ends in the county.

Those not registered to vote may register in person and then vote at one-stop voting sites in their county of residence during the one-stop voting period. In order to register during the one-stop period, state law stipulates that applicants must show an acceptable proof of their name and residence in the county.