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Early Voting Begins In North Carolina For Upcoming Primary

Board of Elections officials in Forsyth and Guilford Counties are preparing for early voting to start on Thursday for the March 15 primary. Photo: Keri Brown/WFDD

Early voting starts Thursday in North Carolina for the March 15 primary, and it's still not too late to register to vote.

Same-day voter registration was eliminated as part of the controversial elections law overhaul in 2013 but it has yet to impact early voting. That's because a federal court has blocked some of the provisions from going into effect until a lawsuit challenging the legislation is decided.

Charlie Collicutt is director of the Guilford County Board of Elections. He says so far, more than 6,700 new registrations have been logged by his staff since January.

“Early voting is a great place to come if you're not quite sure about your address within your county or if you're not sure if you are registered at all,” says Collicutt. “At this time, you can do a same-day registration where you can come in and register to vote, but this only during early voting.”

Early voting has become more popular, accounting for 23 percent of votes cast in the 2012 primary.

The early voting period in North Carolina runs through March 12.

One of the big issues on the primary ballot is a $2 billion statewide bond referendum. Voters will also cast primary ballots for president, governor, and a host of local races on March 15. 

A second primary will be held on June 7 for U.S. House of Representatives races only.

 

*You can follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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