North Carolina’s Board of Elections reported a larger-than-expected Early Voting turnout this election cycle. But those high numbers didn’t appear to stem the tide of voters at Belville Elementary School in Brunswick County this Election Day.
On a clear afternoon with temperatures nearing 70 degrees, cars packed the parking lot at Belville Elementary.
Rich Leary says he arrived at 6:30 in the morning to hand out campaign literature. Even at that hour, he says, voter traffic was steady.
"And then at around 11 o’clock, we started to get, I think, the lunch crowd and it got quite heavy. In fact, it was out and across the road here – all the way up into the bushes – probably about an hour wait or so."
That didn’t deter Jeremy Middlesworth. He says he voted against the Constitutional Amendment on the ballot that would give people charged with a felony the option to waive a jury trial in favor of a trial by judge. And, he says, he tries to vote in every election.
"It’s important to me to vote ‘cause I think the people that reflect – you know – put a lot of the impact in your life are the people that you hire once a year or once every other year. I hope there’s a lot of change (laughter). That’s what we’re looking for."
The polls are open until 7:30 this evening.