By Staff
Friday is deadlineto register to voteon Election Day ’08
By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
Voters in Beaufort County’s Gilead precinct will mark ballots at the polling place in Chocowinity on Election Day.
The loss of Ephesus Free Will Baptist Church as the polling place in Gilead precinct and the loss of a replacement polling place forced the Beaufort County Board of Elections to shift voters from Gilead precinct to the Chocowinity polling place, said Kellie Harris Hopkins, elections director.
The Chocowinity polling place is located at the Chocowinity Community Building, 123 Walhurst Ave.
The board was working to change the Gilead polling place from the church to the replacement site when it learned the replacement site was no longer available, Hopkins said. The board determined it did have enough time to look for another polling place and have it ready for use by the Nov. 4 general election, she said.
Having Gilead voters mark their ballots at the Chocowinity polling place should not be a problem, Harris said.
Voters who reside in the Chocowinity precinct will insert their ballots into one tabulator. Voters who reside in the Gilead precinct will inset their ballots into another tabulator.
Some voters from Gilead precinct should be familiar with the arrangement. It was used in June during the second primary after the church’s congregation decided its building would not longer be used as a polling place.
Hopkins also said Friday is the deadline to register to vote on Election Day. People who miss that deadline have another opportunity to register to vote, but they will have to register and vote during the no-excuse, one-stop voting period that begins Oct. 16 and ends Nov. 1.
Qualified residents may register to vote and mark ballots on the same day during the one-stop voting period. That procedure was used for the first time in North Carolina during the 2007 elections. Because that procedure is permitted only during the early-voting period, it cannot be used on Election Day, on the day of primary elections, before the one-stop voting period or the days between the end of the one-stop voting period and Election Day.
Beaufort County voters may mark ballots at the Board of Elections office, 1308 Highland Drive, Washington, from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. weekdays from Oct. 16 to Oct. 31. One-stop voting will be conducted in Aurora at the Aurora Community Center, 442 Third St., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on two Saturdays, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25. One-stop voting will be conducted in Belhaven in the council chambers at the old town hall (213 E. Main St.) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 18 and Oct. 25.
Beaufort County voters may take advantage of one-stop voting at any of the one-stop voting sites.
In Hyde County, the elections office in Swan Quarter will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays during the one-stop voting period. On Nov. 1, the elections office will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for one-stop voting. Normally, the elections office is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The elections office in Washington County will conduct one-stop voting from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays during the one-stop voting period. The office will conduct one-stop voting from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 1.
The elections office in Martin County will conduct one-stop voting from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays during the one-stop voting period and from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. Nov. 1. Martin said voters will be able to participate in one-stop voting in Robersonville from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays during the one-stop voting period and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 1. The site for one-stop voting in Robersonville will be the W.C. Chance East End Schools Cultural Center, 304 Cochran St.