I wanted to take some time to update the OP community on the status of Early Voting for the 2012 General Election.
At its June meeting, the OC BOE approved the usage of four sites: Rams Head, Seymour Center, Carrboro Town Hall, the OC BOE office, and a nothern Orange location to be determined (not unanimous). They also established early voting times for Seymour, BOE and Carrboro Town Hall (unanimous). However, the motion for Saturday voting for 9am to 3pm was not unanimous.
At its July meeting, the OC BOE approved the times for Rams Head and signaled that it was still interested in a fifth northern Orange site, but that it was increasingly difficult to find such a location since there were concerns about Mt. Zion (the early vote site during the primary).
At its meeting today, the BOE has now approved a total five sites: Rams Head, Seymour Center, Carrboro Town Hall, the OC BOE office, and Mt. Zion AME Church. These were the five sites for the primary. The motion to approve Mt. Zion as well as its times was unanimous.
The times are:
Seymour, Rams, and Mt. Zion will be open Noon to 7pm, Monday through Friday.
Carrboro Town Hall and OC BOE office will be open 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday.
All five sites will be open Saturday 9am to 3pm. However, Rams will not be open during the NC State game on October 27.
Non-unanimous decisions are subject to approval by the State Board of Elections.
Issues:
Comments
I appreciate that you once again put an early voting site on campus. It got high turnout for the primary/Amendment One election, and I expect it will drive high turnout from the campus student population (as well as campus student employees) for the November elections.
One correction to Matt's post - the Rams Head site will be closed on SATURDAY OCTOBER 27 for the State game NOT the 20th. The site WILL be open October 20.As Matt noted, many of the Board's decisions were not unanimous, but were 2-1 party line votes. That means that the county's decision automatically goes to the state board of election, which will make the final decision. The hours he lists are the likely, but not final, early voting hours, and once they are final the Board will officially announce them.That said, I am pleased that we will have early voting across the county from 9-7 and until three every Saturday. Over the past three elections, the availability of early voting has slowly increased, and we look forward to a successful year. Also, early voting officials are employees of the county, not volunteers. People who can commit to work for the entire early voting period (from October 18 through November 3) can express their interest to the board at www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/Jim WhiteChair, OC Board of Elections
The early voting hours/dates for the general election are official as they were unanomously approved by the State Board of Elections Tuesday and are now posted on the OCBoE website:http://www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/documents/onestopsites11062012b.pdf
November 6, 2012 General
Election
One-Stop Early Voting Sites,
Dates and Times
There are 5 sites. Please
note dates and hours of each site.
Sites:
Board of Elections Office , 208
S. Cameron St, Hillsborough
AND
Carrboro Town Hall 301 W. Main St, Carrboro
Hours for above two sites:
Thursday & Friday,
10/18 & 10/19 - 9am – 5pm
Mondays – Fridays, 10/22-
11/02 - 9am– 5pm
Saturdays, 10/20, 10/27
& 11/03 – 9am – 3pm
Sites:
*Ram’s Head Dining Hall
, 2nd floor above Ram’s Head Parking Deck 33 Ridge
Rd - UNC Campus, Chapel Hill
AND
Seymour Senior Center 2551 Homestead Rd, Chapel Hill
AND
Mt. Zion AME Church
Fellowship Bldg. 5124 NC Hwy 86 N,
Hillsborough (Cedar Grove area)
Hours for above three sites:
Thursday & Friday,
10/18 & 10/19 - Noon – 7pm
Mondays - Fridays, 10/22 –
11/02 - Noon – 7pm
Saturdays - 10/20, 10/27*
& 11/03 – 9am – 3pm
*PLEASE NOTE: Early Voting
will not be offered at Ram’s Head on Saturday 10/27 due to UNC/NC State
football game.
This is more hours and days than in 2008 -- when the satellite sites did not open until Monday and only the BoE office was open the first Thursday-Saturday. So Orange will have four sites with 15 days and one with 14 days, and evening hours at three of the sites ! Plus the final day will be 9-3 instead of 9-1 as in 2008. Great job getting this approved.