What you need to know on election day
Posted at 5:44 am on Saturday, November 5, 2022
Election Day is fast approaching and voters are set to cast their ballots on Tuesday, November 8th.
Nearly 8,000 Beaufort County voters had already cast their ballots as of press time Friday, with turnout split between Democrats (2,180), Republicans (2,758) and independents (2,140).
These counts show One Stop early voting participation at the Beaufort County Board of Elections office and associated sites.
But it is important to remember that you cannot vote at the election commission office on election day. Despite that fact, hundreds of Beaufort County voters mistakenly show up there every election, according to Beaufort County BOE Director Kelly Harris Hopkins. Don’t be one of them.
Instead, you must vote at your assigned polling station. If you don’t know where it is, you can find it by following the links on the North Carolina or Beaufort County BOE websites.
Election and law enforcement officials across the country are working to ensure security at polling stations, with many preparing to intimidate poll workers and voters.
Transparency and oversight are an important part of the election process, but they are already built into the system of bipartisan election commissions and designated election observers.
There is no reason to intimidate, harass or threaten voters or polling station workers. This behavior is not just unnecessary, it is against the law.
The hard-working team of the election commission deserves respect, as do all precinct and election day workers. While you take a few minutes to cast your vote, remember that many of them started their day before 5:30 a.m. and continue to work past 9 p.m.
The State Election Commission, to “ensure that routine and necessary election procedures are not misinterpreted or distorted,” offers a few reminders ahead of Election Day:
• Minor disruptions occur during each election, such as power outages, jammed tabulators or printers, or long lines at some polling stations.
• It is not uncommon for the State Council to extend the voting time after 7:30 p.m. if a malfunction at the polling station causes an interruption in the voting.
• Unofficial election results will be reported as soon as they are available on the State Council election results panel.
• Election night results are always unofficial.
• The state board expects unofficial results reported by the end of election night to include about 99 percent of all ballots cast in North Carolina for the 2022 general election.
For more information, visit ncsbe.gov.
If you haven’t already done so, exercise your right to vote. Polls open Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.
Ashley Vansant is the publisher of the Washington Daily News. He can be reached at publisher@thewashingtondailynews.com.
