Early Voting Information
If you live in Wake you can vote at any of these places during early voting. Primary election day itself is of course on Tuesday May 4th.



Live outside of wake? Find your voting locations here:
http://ncdems.3cdn.net/2570ec423e843b484a_rbm6i2o83.pdf

What if I'm unaffiliated/independent?
If you're unaffiliated/independent you can vote in whichever party's primary you want so if you wanted to vote in the Democratic primary this time, and then in the GOP primary for president next election cycle you can do that, or vice versa.

What if I'm not registered to vote?
You can do so at the one stop voting sites. Bring your driver license or other form of ID.

Sample Ballot
If you want to see what your sample ballot will look like, look yourself up on the NC Board of Elections website then click on my sample ballot:
http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/VoterLookup.aspx?Feature=voterinfo

NC & Wake County Board of Elections websites:
http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/
http://www.wakegov.com/elections/default.htm

Still have questions? Call:
Wake County BoE: 919-856-6240
NC BoE: 919-733-7173

4/22/2010 2:57:55 PM

Get this shit out of chit chat you fucking asshole.

4/22/2010 2:58:19 PM

fuck no

4/22/2010 2:58:21 PM

No thanks

4/22/2010 2:59:15 PM

Buy an ad, asshole!

4/22/2010 2:59:56 PM

they'll call me for jury duty

4/22/2010 3:01:38 PM

^They probably already have your name from the Census, and they're going to use that for much worse than Jury Duty.

4/22/2010 3:06:21 PM

i used my porn name for the census though

4/22/2010 3:08:31 PM

^touché

*disclaimer: I haven't actually voted either... yet

The sample ballot is pretty useful to anyone, myself included, who knew about some but not all of the races they were able to vote on, so that you can see the position, the candidates, and look up their websites.


Here is a PDF one can download with some general info on voting followed by info on all the nonpartisan judicial races:
http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/content.aspx?id=29

Most candidates also fill out the Indy Questionnaire if you're looking for one stop shopping on finding out about candidates rather than looking up each of their websites (although the indy also usually includes a link to the candidates website too):
http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/ArticleArchives?section=1179044&category=1179213&feature=&keywords=&author=&year=2010

4/22/2010 4:15:14 PM

Supplanter - I've been meaning to PM you to ask a few questions about the candidates for this election. Expect a message from me soon!

4/22/2010 6:34:51 PM

My disclaimer can now be removed. I ended up early voting today. Off year elections are nice in that there is no trouble finding parking and no line when voting.

^No prob. I'm open to any questions on how/where/when to vote, on my understanding of where the candidates stand, and for anyone who wants my recommendations on who to vote for.

4/22/2010 7:47:02 PM

The Chavis Community Center is open for voting today between 2pm to 7pm. It's probably the easiest one to get to from campus. Its just down Western Blvd, after it becomes MLK, and would be on your left coming from that direction. They'll also be open 10am to 4pm tomorrow. Wake does better than several other counties in offering Saturday options.

The Wake County Board of Elections Office isn't too bad either, located down town Raleigh, and is open most of the day today (8:30am to 5pm).

There are some other sites around the city and county, but those two would be the quickest access from campus.

Anyone can vote at any of these sites during early voting. If you wait until the election day then you have to go to your specific site.

[Edited on April 23, 2010 at 7:20 AM. Reason : .]

4/23/2010 7:19:27 AM

I wonder if it's even worth the trouble of me applying for an absentee ballot.

4/23/2010 7:22:34 AM

i'm voting against Stephanie Watson because she looks like darth vader after he removed his mask

[Edited on April 23, 2010 at 7:42 AM. Reason : someone make a chart of candidates and their positions on the major issues]

4/23/2010 7:41:56 AM

^The Indy Weekly is pretty good for that.
Click here:
http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/ArticleArchives?section=1179044&category=1179213&feature=&keywords=&author=&year=2010
Plug the name into the search function on the left, and you can find most anyone.

^^If you are voting in the Democratic Senate Primary, then yes, its going to be close between Secretary of State & former State Senator Elaine Marshall, and former State Senator Cal Cunningham. More info on them here (there are 6 candidate in that race, but those 2 are who its coming down to):
http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=592401

^If you, or anyone posts a list of names of people they are voting on, and what issues are important them, I will try to find out all I can on them in a targeted way, and post it.

4/23/2010 8:30:44 AM

Well crap it's apparently too late for me to request the ballot anyway

4/24/2010 6:53:36 AM

The general election between Burr and Elaine or Cal should be interesting too, along with a myriad of other elections come November even if you can't get involved in the primary.

For anyone who is getting involved in the primary, 4 of the 5 early voting sites in Wake County shown in the pic at top will be open today from 10am to 4pm. Doesn't get easier than Saturday voting.

4/24/2010 7:09:17 AM

Bump for this week (wont bump again until Saturday, the last day to early vote, when the times to vote change)


All this week there are opportunities to vote between 8:30 am and 7pm.

The Wake BoE site is open 8:30am to 5pm, and the other 4 sites are open 2pm to 7 pm.

The early vote site closest to campus, Chavis Community Center (on your left after Western becomes MLK), will be open 2pm to 7pm every weekday this week.

4/26/2010 5:46:11 PM

remember when you're getting all mad about how long the lines are for chocolate rations that you could have avoided it but were too much of a college faggot to vote for the right people!

4/26/2010 5:53:21 PM

Early voting ends tomorrow at 1pm. Plan accordingly.

4/30/2010 12:53:44 PM

I is voting at the Board Of Elections in a bit

4/30/2010 1:20:37 PM

Last day to vote. The rules about where/when to vote are a little different on election day itself than for early voting.

When to Vote
Tuesday May 4th. Polls are open from 6:30am to 7:30pm.

Where to Vote
http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/PrecinctFinder.aspx

What does my Polling Place look like?
http://www.app.sboe.state.nc.us/webapps/pollingplace_search/default.aspx

Official Election Results
http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NC/15705/23364/en/summary.html
The official results will start coming in tomorrow evening after 7:30 pm when the polls close and will be posted online as reported.

5/4/2010 1:26:36 AM

I'll bump this again tomorrow.

5/4/2010 2:26:02 AM

OR DIE.

5/4/2010 2:37:05 AM

^exactly

5/4/2010 11:09:01 AM

My mom's working the polls today

5/4/2010 11:18:44 AM

She'll be working my pole today alright

5/4/2010 11:23:47 AM

http://news.mync.com/site/news/story/51144/voters-look-to-shape-congress-amidst-continuing-frustration/

Quote :

"Some 170,000 voters had cast a ballot in early voting that ended Saturday, roughly one-third the number that appeared in the same period for the presidential primary two years ago. The early voting showed no sign of conservative surge from interest in the tea party, as Republicans have comprised just 33 percent of voters so far - similar to last election and to the statewide breakdown of party registration."

There were 170,000 voters during early voting this time around. Its obviously lower than during an election year primary, but higher than the last off year election primary.

The biggest question mark on the ballot is who is going to win the Senate Primary on the Democratic side. Obviously, after 16 years in Washington, Burr is going to win the republican primary as the incumbent even though he does have a number of challengers. The second biggest question is will the winner on the Democratic side break 40% (the necessary number to avoid a run off)? Elaine & Cal are the only 2 candidates who have a chance at that, but with the other 4 candidates on the ballot taking up some vote & Elaine & Cal being fairly close to each other in the polling (Elaine having a slight lead) it is possible that while one candidate has more votes, neither would break 40%.

If I had to guess what would happen I'd say Elaine wins tonight with 43% of the vote and no runoff, but its going to be close both between Elaine & Cal, and close to the runoff threshold.

5/4/2010 11:43:24 AM

5/4/2010 12:45:31 PM

5/4/2010 1:50:20 PM

I VOTED!!!

I'm sure you all are very surprised about that

5/4/2010 2:04:33 PM

^congrats



If anyone wants to nerd it up tonight, I have a thread over in the SB to discuss election results as they come in (rather than this thread which is more how/when to vote for both early voting & election day voting):
http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=594073

5/4/2010 2:14:13 PM

I will be at some results parties tonight....should be interesting

5/4/2010 2:19:14 PM

My guess is the main results party in the state is this one:

Quote :

"When: TONIGHT from 7:30 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. Where: Brownstone Hotel @ 1707 Hillsborough St. in Raleigh"

That is for the Elaine Marshall for Senate campaign and its an open invitation to everyone in the state, any constituent can go, or anyone else for that matter too. I'm tempted to go because while I've chatted with her online and through liveblogs, and seen her speak in person, I've never had the chance to talk to her in person, so it'd be cool to say finally say hi face to face, but with a final tomorrow that I'm not nearly well enough prepared for I think I'll have to forgo that opportunity.

The main results party will be either hers, or Cal Cunningham's since they are the top competitors for the biggest race in this election. I haven't heard where Cal's results party will be yet although I'm guessing it'll be in Lexington, NC rather than Raleigh. I think Elaine lives in or near the triangle area (maybe south of Raleigh), I know she works in Raleigh as Secretary of State so it makes sense that she has her party here. And Cal lives in Lexington and has his campaign HQ out there which is why I expect his party will be there. I'll post details on it if I hear anything new though.

5/4/2010 2:43:48 PM

I will be at players retreat for the start of the results then I'll probably go holler at Elaine. You should go meet her...she's great in person!

5/4/2010 2:47:50 PM

^I got a message about that

Quote :

"With tomorrow's primary, we've decided to move the location of our meeting to Player's Retreat and turn it into a primary results watch party. This should be a great night and a great start to all the work we'll be doing to make November a huge success! We will meet at 7pm to socialize and wait to see who our 2010 Democratic candidates will be. The polls are open until 7:30pm so most importantly, make your vote count, then stop by. For those that aren't familiar with the location, the address for Player's Retreat is: 105 Oberlin Rd. Raleigh, NC 27605. Parking is available across the street in the lot next to the bank (not the bank parking lot.) We look forward to seeing you all there! Democratically Yours, "

I'm a little surprised though that they are having a separate results party basically right across the street from the big one...I mean you might be able to see their party out the window if there aren't too many trees/buildings in the way. I am tempted, I'd love to see Mike and maybe meet Thomas and some other people behind the campaign. I was able to work with Mike on content for their gay rights section on Elaine's website. Did the same, to a lessor extent with Frank on Cal's campaign.

But with so many finals this week and starting working at the Mayor's office (in Chapel Hill, whose campaign I worked on as the Volunteer Coordinator) for the summer this week, and a dentist appointment this week, I don't think I can squeeze in anything else (other than posting on Tdub with the TV on watching the results come in while studying for my next final). While I am a grad student at State, I moved to Chapel Hill for work after undergrad, working in Carrboro for a few years at a vet clinic between undergrad & grad school... so it would be a bit of a drive for me to get there from where I live now. If it weren't so crazy busy, &/or I lived closer, I definitely would check it out, I love results parties (even though I have a bit of a mixed history, lost hard on Jim Neal for Senate which makes for a depressing results party, but Mark for Mayor turned out to be a victory party, squeaking by, by 102 votes and when you work for a campaign for 6 months you know you've affected over 100 votes, so that was a great feeling), but I just can't make it.

If I were to go to a results party, I'd probably end up with the Orange County Sheriff's results party. He asked me to be his campaign manager many months back, but I took too heavy of a course load this semester to staff any campaigns. But I'm really pulling for the guy who isn't the incumbent.

[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 4:50 PM. Reason : but I'll definitely volunteer for her some this summer, so maybe we'll meet face to face then]

5/4/2010 4:41:32 PM

Quote :

"What if I'm unaffiliated/independent? If you're unaffiliated/independent you can vote in whichever party's primary you want so if you wanted to vote in the Democratic primary this time, and then in the GOP primary for president next election cycle you can do that, or vice versa."

:|

Quote :

"i'm voting against Stephanie Watson because she looks like darth vader after he removed his mask"

That's not even funny.

You should vote for her because she's a libertarian.



[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 4:55 PM. Reason : ]

5/4/2010 4:49:30 PM

^whats up?

That is my reading of the NC Board of Elections voter guide information packet where it says:

Quote :

"Voters who are affiliated (registered) with a political party must vote in the primary of the party with which they are affiliated. Voters who are not affiliated with a political party may vote in a party primary as long as that party allows it. At this time, the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian Parties allow unaffiliated voters to vote in their primaries."

Someone in a soap box thread asked me this:

Quote :

"Quality thread. I assume it's too late to change registration at this point, but are independents going to be able to vote in the Democratic primary? I'm also somewhat curious whether, in North Carolina, independents will be able to vote in the Republican primary for 2012, but that's quite a ways away."

And so in addition to answering their point about registration dates (it was too late to change by that point) I also was checking in for them to see if they could vote in the Democratic Primary like the wanted... and I figured if one person had that question, maybe more than one person did, so I shared that bit of info in this thread too.

5/4/2010 4:55:45 PM

Quote :

"Voters who are not affiliated with a political party may vote in a party primary as long as that party allows it. At this time, the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian Parties allow unaffiliated voters to vote in their primaries."

Primaries are suspect. I mean, are they merely created by political parties? (which are private, not public... right?...or no?) If they're just a way for parties to choose which candidate the party is backing, then how are they a part of the public voting/polling system? What if someone starts a political party that wants to choose candidates, issues, etc. by voting?...can they "hijack" the public polling system? At what point can political parties, by designing the way they do things, get to use the public system? (Am I making sense?)

Our voting system is dumb.

5/4/2010 5:14:55 PM

your mom is dumb

5/4/2010 5:16:52 PM

I'M NOT A PART OF YOUR SYSTEM!!! I'M AN ADULT!!

5/4/2010 5:32:21 PM

i voted! and met grier martin! :swoon:

5/4/2010 5:43:28 PM

^^^^It takes a lot of money to print ballots and run an election and so narrowing candidates down somewhat makes sense. And then you get into election design theory (where my knowledge is limited at best) and Arrow's principles and all that, because all election designs effect the outcomes, and there is no way to design an election that perfectly reflects the will of the people. So there is some sense to primaries the way they are done, and I am sure there are more reasons and people who can offer a better defense than I can, but if I say much more I'll just be talking out of my ass.

And you don't have to convince me that reform towards more open elections is a good thing. I think 2 of the more practical next steps are 1) Public Financing of Campaigns (aka Voter Owned Elections) and 2) Lowering the threshold for viability on third parties to get their names on the ballot.

The campaign I mentioned that I was the Volunteer Coordinator on was for a Voter Owned Candidate for Mayor. The way voter owned works is, you have to get a certain number of donations from registered voters in your area to prove your viability, and at that point you qualify for some public funding, so random people can't just get in their and waste gov money... but if you've done your due diligence as a business leader or serving on citizen advisory boards or been a profession like teacher or doctor or something you can probably run for office even if you aren't rich. This makes you more beholden to voters than special interests, reduces the overall amount of money in politics, lets office holders spend more time governing and less time fund raising (b/c their are also caps on how much anyone person can give - it was something like $25 in this mayoral race so there were no big donors), and perhaps most importantly opens up the options for people to run who are qualified but aren't wealthy. It is a fairly new thing to NC for municipal races, the General Assembly said they were going to watch us and see if was really viable to run on less money (b/c obviously there aren't piles of public money to go around), and we did win with significantly less money than our opponent.

I think those 2 steps more public financed campaigns to increase the pool of qualified people who can run for office without being independently wealthy or heavily party supported, and by lowering the threshold for third parties like the Greens & Libertarians to get their names on the ballots, we can take the next most practical steps in opening up elections. And I've certainly done my part, I've never worked as hard on any campaign that I've volunteered for, interned for, or worked for as I did for that Voter Owned Mayoral race.

Now its up to the General Assembly to see if, after seeing what they wanted to know - that voter owned candidates can win, if they'll take steps to broaden the VOE option to more municipalities throughout NC.

[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 5:50 PM. Reason : .]

5/4/2010 5:47:16 PM

Just over an hour left to



Also, according to WRAL:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7527861/

Quote :

"Early voting was extremely high in Wake County, Poucher said, so she's hoping for a good overall turnout. More than 7,000 Wake County people voted early, compared to 700 in 2006, the most recent off-year election without a presidential or gubernatorial race."

Good job Wake!

5/4/2010 6:19:07 PM

what if I don't wanna rock the vote

5/4/2010 6:21:01 PM

You could gently sway the vote maybe?

[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 6:24 PM. Reason : .]

5/4/2010 6:23:39 PM

i was the 202nd voter at my precint 01-39 around 5:30ish

5/4/2010 6:25:40 PM

Although I imagine everyone who is going to vote has by now, if for any reason you haven't yet, there is still half an hour left.

Most voting sites are located near where people live so it'd only take a 5 to 15 min drive to get there. Find your site here:
http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/PrecinctFinder.aspx

And leave now!

Results will be posted here:
http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NC/15705/23364/en/summary.html

Results on Tdub will be discussed here:
*OFFICIAL* Tuesday May 4 Primary Election Results
http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=594073

5/4/2010 6:59:13 PM

I submitted a blank unaffiliated ballot. 177th (and last) in my precinct.




[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 7:38 PM. Reason : ]

5/4/2010 7:38:21 PM

set em up

5/4/2010 7:38:46 PM