Early voting begins Thursday, Oct. 20, in Dare and Hyde counties

Early voting for the Nov. 8 general election begins on Thursday, Oct. 20, in both Dare and Hyde counties and continues until Saturday, Nov. 5.

On Hatteras Island, the Dare County Board of Elections has a satellite voting site at the Fessenden Center in Buxton with a voting schedule of Monday through Friday from 2 until 6 p.m. except for Wednesday, Oct. 26, and Tuesday, Nov. 1, when hours are from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

On Ocracoke, early voting will be at the Ocracoke fire station on Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 2 and 3, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The complete early voting schedule for Dare and Hyde can be found at the end of this article.

Registration to vote closed today, Wednesday, Oct. 19, in North Carolina. If you have not registered, you cannot vote on Election Day.

However, you can register to vote and vote during early voting.

Also, because of a U.S. Court of Appeals decision that struck down North Carolina’s voter ID law, identification will not be required to vote.

At the top of the ballot in the general election is the Presidential race, featuring Republican Donald Trump, Democrat Hillary Clinton, and Libertarian Gary Johnson .

In addition, Gov. Pat McCrory, running for his second term, is being challenged by Roy Cooper, the Democratic Attorney General.

Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Burr us running against Democrat Deborah Ross and Libertarian Sean Hough.

Voters in Dare and other eastern counties, including Hyde, will also be choosing whether to send incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Walter Jones back to Washington for his 12th term representing the state’s 3rd Congressional District, or replace him with Democratic challenger Ernest Reeves.

In state legislative races, Dare and Hyde residents are electing a state senator and a state representative.

In the race for Senate District 1, incumbent Republican Bill Cook of Chocowinity is being challenged by Democrat Brownie Futrell of Washington.

State Rep. Paul Tine, U-Kitty Hawk, is not seeking another term representing House District 6. Two members of the Dare County Board of Commissioners — Republican Beverly Boswell and Democrat Warren Judge — are facing off for the seat.

In Dare County, Democrat Danny Couch is unopposed for the District 4 seat representing Hatteras Island. Three other commissioner races are on the ballot — incumbent Republican Wally Overman and Democrat Rosemarie Doshier in District 1, incumbent Republican Bob Woodard and Democrat John Towler in District 2, and Democrat Monica Thibodeau and Republican Steve House in District 3.

In Hyde County, Tom Pahl is unopposed for the seat representing Ocracoke Township on the Board of Commissioners and Benjamin Simmons III is unopposed for the Fairfield Township seat. Earl Pugh Jr. is running against Thomas Midgette for the Land Landing seat.

The Dare County League of Women Voters usually sponsors two forums for local candidates. The forum scheduled for Hatteras Island was cancelled. However, the League did host a forum in Nags Head on Sunday, Oct. 16. Click here to read coverage of the forum in The Outer Banks Sentinel.

MORE INFORMATION

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8., when the polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Early voting will start on Oct. 23 and end on Nov. 1. (See early voting schedule below.)

Click here to see a sample ballot for Dare County.

Click here to see a sample ballot for Hyde County.

Click here to see the Judicial Voters’ Guide, produced by the North Carolina Board of Elections.

For more information, contact the Dare County Board of Elections office at 252-475-5630.

For more information, contact the Hyde County Board of Elections office at 252- 926-4194.