The Hyde County Board of Elections has released the early voting schedule for the May 8 primaries. Early voting begins today and ends May 5.

On the mainland, early voting takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays at the board’s office in the public safety building in Swan Quarter. Those hours apply to April 19-20, April 223-27 and April 30-May 4. Early voting is set from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. April 22, a Sunday. On May 5, early voting is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

On Ocracoke, early voting will take place at the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 27-28.

In the primary to decide the Democratic nominee for the Swan Quarter Township seat on the Hyde County Board of Commissioners, voters will mark ballots for either Joey Williams or James “Little Boy” Topping. There is no Republican candidate for that seat.

Republican Ken Collier is the lone candidate for the Currituck Township seat on the Board of Commissioners.

State House District 6 incumbent Beverly Boswell, a Republican, faces a challenge in the Republican primary from Bobby Haning. Boswell is seeking a second two-year term. The winner of that primary faces Democrat Theresa Strickler Judge in the general election.

In the primary to choose the Democratic candidate for the 1^st District in the North Carolina Senate, Richard S. “Steve” James and D. Cole Phelps are challenging each other. Bob Steinburg and Clark Twiddy face each other in the Republican primary to choose the GOP nominee to represent the 1^st District. The winners of those primaries move on to the general election.

Eligible Hyde County voters will choose between incumbent Walter B. Jones Jr., Phil Law and Scott Dacey to represent the 3^rd Congressional District, which includes Hyde County. The winner of that primary faces no Democratic opposition in the general election.

Several unopposed candidates who face no primary challenges will be on ballots for the Nov. 6 general election. They are incumbents Carl “Guire” Cahoon, sheriff; Brandy C. Pugh, clerk of court and Merita Lewis-Spencer, register of deeds.

The Ocracoke seat on the Hyde County Board of Education is available this election cycle, as are two at-large seats on the board. Angela Todd is seeking the Ocracoke seat. Seeking the two at-large seats are Lindsey Mooney III, Aleta Cox and Myra Chandler. These are nonpartisan races.

The Engelhard, Ocracoke and Swan Quarter sanitary districts each have three supervisors’ seats open this election cycle. Seldon Taylor, Jeffrey Stotesberry and J.C. Williams are seeking the three Swan Quarter district seats. Tommy Etheridge and Charles Gibbs want to represent the Engelhard district. William Caswell, Ronnie O’Neal and Flavia Burton are the candidates in the Ocracoke district.

There are two supervisors’ seats available on the Hyde County Soil & Water Conservation Board this year. The filing period for those seats is June 11 through July 6.