By Peter Vankevich
North Carolina voters in two congressional districts will have the opportunity to vote on Sept. 10 for the person who will represent them in Washington.
In the Third Congressional District which includes Ocracoke and most of eastern North Carolina’s 17 counties, a special election was called after long-serving Congressman Walter B. Jones died on Feb. 10.
Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on election day, Tuesday, Sept. 10.
One-stop early voting will be held at the Ocracoke Fire Department located at 822 Irvin Garrish Highway in Ocracoke on Thursday, August 29 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and at the Hyde County Board of Elections office located at 1223 Main Street in Swan Quarter from Wednesday, Aug. 21 until Friday, Sept. 6, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays (Closed Sept. 2 for the holiday)
Absentee voting by mail is available. Requests for an absentee ballot must be made on an absentee request form (available on the State Board of Elections website and at the county board of elections office) and must be received in the Hyde Board of Elections office by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
On the ballot will be Tim Harris (Libertarian), Greg Holt (Constitution) Greg Murphy (Republican) and Allen M.Thomas (Democrat).
A total of 26 candidates filed for the primary election on April 30–17 Republicans, six Democrats, two Libertarians and one Constitution Party candidate.
Democrats selected Allen M. Thomas, Libertarians chose Tim Harris, and Greg Holt was unopposed in the Constitution Party.
The Republican candidate was delayed since none of the 17 candidates received 30 percent of the vote. As required by law, a runoff of the two candidates would have to take place if the person receiving the second highest votes requests it, which she did. The runoff took place on July 9 between candidates Greg Murphy and Joan Perry. Murphy easily won the runoff with more than 20 percent of the vote.
The scandal-plagued District 9 seat in the south-central part of the state has been vacant since the opening of the 116th Congress in January, following the refusal of the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify the results of the November 2018 election in the district due to allegations of electoral fraud.
So, Dan Bishop (Republican), Dan McCready (Democrat), Jeff Scott (Libertarian) and Allen Smith (Green) will be on the ballot.
Persons with questions about registration, polling places, early voting, absentee ballots, a Multipartisan Assistance Team visit to a facility, or other election matters may call the Hyde Board of Elections Office at 252-926-4194. To connect to their website, click here.
