If you live in a city, town, or village in the Cape Fear Region, municipal elections are tomorrow. But voters who live in unincorporated parts of the county do not have an election. WHQR reports on what New Hanover County voters need to know.
4,191. That’s the number of people in New Hanover County who took advantage of the 138 hours of early voting, which finished last Friday. It’s an increase of 51% from 2017. County Elections Director Rae Hunter-Havens says that’s due in part to the 16 additional hours of early voting this year.
But one of the biggest concerns for her is whether people understand that early voting sites are different from Election Day polling places?
"And if you’re not certain where your polling place is, you can certainly give us a call, our number here is 798-7330. You can also check your registration information on our website. We have links both to the North Carolina State Board of Elections website where you can both look at your registration information and your voter history, so there’s various tools voters can use to make sure they have the information they need when they present to vote."
She also says for this year’s municipal election, voters do not have to show photo ID; that change starts in 2020.
Close to 15% of the voting population turned out in 2017 – up 4 percentage points from 2015. Voter turnout was even higher in Brunswick and Pender Counties – a rate over 20%.
Polls are open Tuesday from 6:30 am to 7:30 pm.
Click here to find more information on this year’s municipal candidates.
For all New Hanover County sample ballots and access to polling place changes, clickhere.