At midday Monday 36 Tyrrell County residents had voted in the Republican runoff primary for Congressman.

Debbie Swain, elections director, said 19 votes were cast by Republicans and 17 by unaffiliated electors.

Early voting in the GOP runoff ends Friday, July 5, and election day will be Tuesday, July 9, with polls open in all precincts that day.

The second primary is between Republicans Greg Murphy Greenville and Joan Perry of Kinston, both medical doctors.

The winner of the Murphy-Perry contest will face Constitution Party candidate Greg Holt, Democrat Allen Thomas, and Libertarian Tim Harris in the general election on September 10.

The special election became necessary when Congressman Walter Jones of Farmville died on Feb. 10.

All Republicans and those unaffiliated voters who did not vote in the Democratic or Libertarian primaries on April 30 may vote in person in the board of elections office in the courthouse in Columbia between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. through Friday, July 5 (except for the July 4 holiday).

There are 2,194 registered voters in Tyrrell County, of which 342 are Republicans and 653 are unaffiliated, according to Debbie Swain, county elections director. In the first Congressional primary in April, 186 Republicans went to the polls.