Wake County residents can begin voting Thursday, Oct. 20, for the national and state candidates plus the half-cent sales tax for the county transit plan.
Four things to remember as we prepare to vote. 1) You do not need to present a photo ID; just give your name and address and sign the book. 2) If you are not registered to vote you may register at the polling place. You must provide proof of residence. 3) In Wake Forest the voting location for those in Precinct 19-11 on Election Day is once again the Wake Forest Community House on West Owen after a temporary move away for this spring’s primary. 4) Usually the lines and the wait times are longer during the last days before the election so vote early.
Northern Wake residents will be able to vote early on two Sundays, three Saturdays and all weekdays between Oct. 20 and Nov. 5 at convenient locations.
The Northern Regional Center on East Holding Avenue, Wake Forest, will be open for voting all 17 days of the two weeks of early voting. During the second week, Thursday, Oct. 27, through Saturday, Nov. 5, New Bethel Baptist Church on East Young Street in Rolesville, will be open for voting.
The hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. On Saturdays the hours are 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday hours are 1 to 5 p.m. There are two Sundays on this schedule, Oct. 23 and 30, and three Saturdays, Oct. 23, Oct. 30 and Nov. 5.
In addition to these two sites, there are also early voting locations in Zebulon at the Eastern Wake Regional Center, 1002 Dogwood Drive, and in Wendell at the Wendell Community Center, 601 West Third Street. The Zebulon location will be open 17 days on the same schedule as the Northern Wake Regional. The Wendell location will be open for 10 days, Oct. 27 through Nov. 5. You can find other early voting locations, your precinct, and other voting information at www.wakegov.com/elections.
It did not begin that way. In September, after a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit found in late July that North Carolina’s 2013 voting law intentionally restricted the voting rights of African-American voters, the three-man Wake County Board of Elections voted two to one to severely reduce the number of early-voting sites and hours from what they had been in the 2012 election.
For the first week of early voting, the only voting site was the Wake County Board of Elections in downtown Raleigh. In the second week, Oct. 27 through Nov. 5, 11 sites were added. One of those was New Bethel Baptist Church in Rolesville. There were no sites in Wake Forest, Apex, Garner, Zebulon, Cary or Holly Springs.
The two members voting for the reductions were Republicans, Chairman W. Ellis Boyle and Secretary Eddie Woodhouse; voting against was Democrat Mark Ezzell. (North Carolina local election boards all have three members with two members being the same party affiliation as the governor, the third person a member of the other major party.)
Because of the split vote, that decision had to be reviewed by the North Carolina State Board of Elections, a five-man board split between three Republicans and two Democrats.
On Sept. 8 that state board approved the alternate plan offered by Ezzell which adds eight sites with voting each day beginning on Thursday, Oct. 20, and ending Saturday, Nov. 5. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.
The court of appeals also reversed North Carolina’s law requiring a photo ID to vote. You will not have to show any identification; give your name to the election officials and sign your name on the affidavit.
There will be curbside voting at all early voting sites.
Voters can also choose to use absentee ballots without giving a reason for the use of that ballot. Go to www.ncsbe.gov for details and to order the absentee ballot. You must fill out the form and mail it, fax it or email it to the Wake County Board of Elections, which will send you the appropriate ballot for your precinct. The board of elections is at PO Box 695, Raleigh, NC27602 and 337 South Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, 919-856-6240.
