The local election cycle is underway here in Orange County, with several interesting and critical elections on the ballot. Just like in statewide and national election years, the county will be doing an early voting period – and recently announced its locations, dates, and hours.
Early voting in Orange County will begin on Thursday, October 19 at the Orange Works building on Mayo Street in Hillsborough. The site, which serves as the de facto Board of Elections location for early voting, will operate on its own for a week before other sites open to residents. Carrboro Town Hall, the Seymour Senior Center, and the Chapel of the Cross church will have early voting stations starting on October 26.
After the success of the Chapel Hill Public Library as an early voting location in last year’s elections, it will also be joining the Chapel Hill and Carrboro group again for this municipal election.
Orange County Director of Elections Rachel Raper told 97.9 The Hill that the site was so popular, it seemed like an easy decision to include it for this year too.
“The library was one of the many bright spots of November 2022,” she described, “we had just an excellent turnout over there, the staff was just so wonderful over there. Voters just really enjoyed their voting experiences at the library.”
Photo via the Orange County government.
With it being a municipal election cycle, and the Efland community not having a town government, the Efland Ruritan Club is not included in this year’s early voting sites like in countywide, statewide, and national cycles.
The reasoning behind having four voting locations open later in the early voting period is due to turnout trends. Raper said Orange County typically sees much less participation in local election cycles. Because of an additional early voting site joining the lineup this year, the Board of Elections chose to make a push toward the end of the period instead of across the three-week stretch.
“We really looked at the data for early voting,” Raper said, “and the board decided that they would rather have more locations later in the cycle – where more people take advantage of early voting – then have five sites the whole time, where sometimes we see 30 to 40 per day at these locations. We really wanted to target our resources and have an additional site at this election cycle.”
While the library addition is a change to this local election cycle from previous ones, all North Carolina voters will experience another change this year compared to last. The state government is implementing its voter identification requirement, since the North Carolina Supreme Court reserved its previous ruling that the measure was racially discriminatory and unconstitutional in March.
That means people are required to present or prove some form of a photo ID when they cast their ballots – even if voting by mail or voting early. Some options include North Carolina driver’s licenses, passports, and even UNC student, faculty, or staff ID cards.
There’s also an easy option being offered through every county board of elections in North Carolina, according to Raper.
“Any voter who would like to have a photo ID for voting purposes only can stop by our office,” she said. “We’re open Monday through Friday, from 8 to 5 and there’s no appointment needed. They just stop by, fill out a form, we’ll take their photo, and they’ll leave with a photo ID card – and again, that’s for voting purposes only.”
A photo ID will be required when voting in NC, starting with municipal elections this fall. Registered voters who do not have an acceptable form of identification can get a FREE photo ID from the Orange County Board of Elections office at 208 S. Cameron St., Hillsborough. pic.twitter.com/95KklFc6CC
— Orange County NC Gov (@OCNCGOV) August 4, 2023
The county governments will continue to produce them for interested community members through November 4, which is the final day of early voting. And even if someone fails to bring a valid photo ID to the polls when it’s time to vote, Raper said the Orange County staff will be prepared to make it so the person can still do everything possible to participate in the elections.
“There’s a process for any voter who presents without a photo ID,” the elections director said. “Our staff, both at early voting sites and on Election Day, will be well-trained to help guide our voters through that process, so that no one is turned away when they present to vote.”
For a full list of races Chapelboro is covering this 2023 local election cycle, click here. Additional coverage throughout election season can be found on the Chapelboro Local Elections page.
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