Early voting opens for July 17 runoffs

Posted: Friday, Jun. 29, 2012

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Who can vote in the July 17 runoffs?

If you voted May 8

Voters who cast ballots in the July 17 primary will vote in the same party primary in which they voted in May, Don Wright, general counsel for the state Board of Elections, said last month. For example, registered Democrats must vote in the Democratic primary, and unaffiliated voters who voted for the GOP ballot must choose that ballot again.

If you didn’t vote May 8

Wright said people who did not vote in the May primary can vote in their party’s primary in July. Unaffiliated voters who did not vote in May can vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary in July. Democrats and Republican-registered voters can vote only in their party’s runoffs. April Bethea

People planning to vote in the July 17 runoffs, including the contested 8th and 9th congressional district races, can now cast ballots at early-voting sites across North Carolina.

In Mecklenburg, early voting will be offered initially at the Hal Marshall Annex in uptown from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and again July 2, 3, 5 and 6.

Hal Marshall is located at 618 N. College St. in Charlotte. Additional sites will open at four county libraries July 9. Early voting ends July 14.

Live outside of Mecklenburg? Find a list of early-voting sites in your area at http://bit.ly/MZG1LB.

The runoffs, officially known as a second primary, will decide the winners of Republican or Democratic contests that weren’t concluded by last month’s primary.

Among the local races: Republicans Matthew Ridenhour and Sarah Cherne are competing to represent District 5 on the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners. Jeff Tarte and John Aneralla also are vying in the GOP primary to fill the newly created N.C. Senate District 41.

Other runoffs across North Carolina include three congressional races, five statewide contests, four state Senate seats, and three state House races.

All but three of those will be between Republicans, whose many hotly contested races are the reason for the unusually high number of primaries this year.

Locally, Republicans Jim Pendergraph and Robert Pittenger are facing each other again for a chance to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick in the 9th District. The winner will face Democrat Jennifer Roberts in the fall.

Meanwhile, Richard Hudson and Scott Keadle are competing in the GOP runoff for the 8th congressional district. The winner will take on incumbent Democrat Larry Kissell in November.

The statewide contests involve Republicans deciding their candidates for lieutenant governor, insurance commissioner, secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction. Democrats must pick their candidate for labor commissioner.

Other races on the ballot

Here is a list of some other races with Charlotte-area ties:

• Rowan County commissioners, at-large (D): Corey Hill v. Ralph Walton

• Rowan County commissioners, at-large (R): Gus Andrews, Mike Caskey, Gene Miller and Craig Pearce.

• U.S. House District 11 (R): Mark Meadows v. Vance Patterson

• N.C. Senate District 44 (R, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln): David Curtis v. Chris Carney

• N.C. House District 109 (R, Gaston): Wil Neumann v. Dana Bumgardner The Associated Press contributed