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The field is set for the 2021 municipal elections in Beaufort County, and the countdown is on to Nov. 2.

The voting process will begin on Oct. 3, when county boards of elections across the state start mailing absentee ballots to voters who have requested them. Oct. 8 is the voter registration deadline for municipal elections. To find out how to register, visit https://www.ncsbe.gov/registering/how-register.

The one-stop early voting period will begin Oct. 14 and end Oct. 30. The deadline to submit an absentee ballot request form is Oct. 26. Election day is Nov. 2; that is also the deadline for returning absentee ballots.

To be eligible to vote in a municipality’s election, you must live in that municipality for at least 30 days prior to election day. A photo ID is not required to vote.

Belhaven has Beaufort County’s only contested mayoral race, as incumbent Ricky Credle is running against Arthur Bonner. Mayors Clif Williams (Aurora), Jimmy Mobley (Chocowinity), Stuart Ricks (Pantego), Tom Richter (Washington Park) and Donald Sadler (Washington) were uncontested in their respective bids for reelection.

Two Aurora Board of Commissioners seats were up for election this year; incumbent Jeff Peed was the only candidate to file, which means the other seat will go to a write-in candidate.

In Bath, Donna Wortman and Donald Shreve were the only candidates to file for the two Board of Commissioners seats up for election.

In Belhaven, Ricky Radcliffe is uncontested in his bid for reelection to the Board of Aldermen (East End), while Bobby Freeman and Greg Satterthwaite are vying for one seat representing the West End.

In Chocowinity, three candidates are vying for two seats. The candidates are Gerald Bullock and incumbents Billy Albritton and Louise Furman.

All five commissioner seats were up for election in Pantego, and no one except the five incumbents filed. Those are Mart Benson, Chuck Williams, Chad Keech, Reid Gelderman and Matthew van Nortwick.

The situation is identical in Washington Park, where incumbents Jeff Peacock, Belinda Cowell, Patrick Nash, Wade Dale and Lee Bowen were uncontested in their bids for reelection.

The most heavily contested race is in Washington, where 10 candidates are vying for five spots on City Council. The field consists of incumbents Richard Brooks, Betsy Kane, William Pitt and Virginia Finnerty, appointed member Mike Renn, and candidates A.J. Congleton, Bobby Roberson, Lou Hodges, Roland Wyman and Gwendolyn Gilbert.