At long last, the 2016 general election has officially started.
Thursday, October 20, marks the beginning of the 17-day early voting period in North Carolina. (That’s 17 days instead of 10 days, because a federal court in July struck down the General Assembly’s attempt to shorten early voting by a week.)
Visit the Orange County Board of Elections website.
Visit the Durham County Board of Elections website.
Visit the Chatham County Board of Elections website.
Your ballot will be a long one: not only the high-profile races for President, Governor, and U.S. Senator, but also numerous races for Council of State positions, a close race for a critical seat on the State Supreme Court, five open seats on the State Court of Appeals – and in Orange County, two bond referendums totaling $125 million.
Same-day registration is available during the early voting period – so even if you’re not yet registered to vote, you can show up to an early voting site and register and vote on the same day. (Also, thanks to that same federal court ruling, you will not have to show a photo ID in order to vote.)
In the last presidential election in 2012, there were 50,234 votes cast during the early voting period in Orange County – almost a third of the county’s entire population.
There are five early voting sites in Orange County:
- the Board of Elections office, 208 S. Cameron Street in Hillsborough;
- Carrboro Town Hall, 301 West Main Street;
- Chapel of the Cross, 304 East Franklin Street (next to Morehead Planetarium);
- the Seymour Center, 2551 Homestead Road in northern Chapel Hill;
- and the Efland Ruritan Club Building, 3009 Route 70 West in Efland.
The Board of Elections office and Carrboro Town Hall sites are open from 9:00-6:00 on Thursday and Friday and 9:00-4:00 on Saturday; the other three sites are open from noon to 7:00 on Thursday and Friday and 9:00-4:00 on Saturday.
Hours of operation vary for the rest of the early voting period:
Monday-Friday, October 24-28
Board of Elections and Carrboro Town Hall: 9a-6p
Chapel of the Cross, Seymour Center, Efland Ruritan Club: noon-7p
Saturday, October 29
All locations: 9a-4p
Monday, October 31
Board of Elections and Carrboro Town Hall: 9a-5p
Chapel of the Cross, Seymour Center, Efland Ruritan Club: noon-5p
Tuesday, November 1
Board of Elections and Carrboro Town Hall: 9a-6p
Chapel of the Cross, Seymour Center, Efland Ruritan Club: noon-7p
Wednesday-Friday, November 2-4
Board of Elections and Carrboro Town Hall: 9a-7:30p
Chapel of the Cross, Seymour Center, Efland Ruritan Club: noon-7:30p
Saturday, November 5
All locations: 8a-1p
In Chatham County, there are four early voting locations:
- the Board of Elections office, 984 Thomspon Street in Pittsboro;
- the Earl B. Fitts Community Center in Siler City, 111 S. Third Ave;
- Briar Chapel Park in northern Chatham, 1015 Andrews Store Road;
- and Goldston Town Hall at 40A Coral Avenue.
The Board of Elections office is open weekdays from 8 am to 7 pm; the other three locations are open weekdays from 10 am to 7 pm. All four locations are open from 10-5 on Saturdays – except on Saturday, November 5, when all four locations close at 3:00.
In Durham County, there are 13 early voting locations:
- the Board of Elections office, 201 N. Roxboro St;
- Eastern Regional Library, 211 Lick Creek Lane;
- Eno River Unitarian Fellowship, 4907 Garrett Road;
- North Regional Library, 221 Milton Road;
- South Regional Library, 4505 S. Alston Ave;
- The Frontier, 800 Park Offices Drive;
- Greater Emmanuel Temple, 2722 E. Main Street;
- Ivy Community Center, 4222 Fayetteville Street;
- New Jerusalem Baptist Cathedral, 3405 Danube Lane;
- NCCU Law School, 640 Nelson Street;
- Duke University Devils Den, 309 Oregon Drive;
- Durham Tech CC, 1637 Lawson Street;
- and Durham Tech’s North Campus, 2401 Snow Hill Road.
Only the first five locations (in boldface) will be open through the first week of early voting; all five are open from 9 am to 7:30 pm on weekdays and Saturdays, and 1:30-7:30 pm on Sundays.
All 13 locations will be open beginning on Thursday, October 27, and running through Saturday, November 5, at the same times. (Two exceptions: all locations will close at 5:30 pm on Halloween, and 1:00 pm on Saturday, November 5.)
The link to the Orange County board of Elections does not work!! Please fix it!
Hi Nancy, a link to the Orange County Board of Elections can be found here: https://www.orangecountync.gov/1720/Elections