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Election Day is fast approaching, with voters headed to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Nearly 8,000 Beaufort County voters had already cast their ballots as of this newspaper’s press time Friday, with the turnout split between Democrats (2,180), Republicans (2,758) and Unaffiliated (2,140) voters.

Those tallies represent One Stop early voting participation at the Beaufort County Board of Elections office and satellite sites.

But it’s important to remember you can’t cast a vote at the Board of Elections office on Election Day. Despite that fact, hundreds of Beaufort County voters mistakingly show up there anyway each election, according to Beaufort County BOE director Kellie Harris Hopkins. Don’t be one of them.

Instead, you must vote at your designated precinct. If you’re unsure where that is, you can look it up using links on the North Carolina or Beaufort County BOE websites.

Election and law enforcement officials across the country are working to ensure security at polling sites, many bracing for intimidation of poll workers and voters.

Transparency and oversight are an important part of the election process, but they are already baked in to the system of bi-partisan election boards and designated poll watchers.

There’s no reason to intimidate, harass or threaten voters or poll-workers. Such behavior is not just uncalled for, it’s against the law.

The hard working staff at the board of elections deserves to be treated with respect, as do all precinct officials and election day workers. While you take a few minutes to cast your vote, remember many of them started their day before 5:30 a.m. and will continue to work past 9 p.m.

The State Board of Elections, to “ensure that routine and required election procedures are not misconstrued or misrepresented” offers some reminders in advance of Election Day:

• Minor disruptions arise during every election, such as power outages, tabulator or printer jams, or longer lines at some voting places.

• It is not unusual for the State Board to extend polling hours beyond 7:30 p.m. if a disruption at a polling place causes an interruption in voting.

• Unofficial election results will be reported as they become available on the State Board’s Election Results Dashboard.

• Election night results are always unofficial.

• The State Board anticipates that the unofficial results reported by the end of election night will include about 99 percent of all ballots cast in North Carolina in the 2022 general election.

For more information, visit, ncsbe.gov.

If you have not already, please exercise your right to vote. Polls open Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.

Ashley Vansant is publisher of the Washington Daily News. He can be reached at publisher@thewashingtondailynews.com.