Q&A: NC Supreme Court, congressional races on ballot Tuesday
North Carolina voters will make picks in races for state Supreme Court and most U.S. House races Tuesday.
Posted — UpdatedPolls will be open across the state 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, but political observers aren't expecting a big turnout.
"Statewide, it could be 15 percent of registered voters, maybe," said Michael Bitzer, a professor of political science at Catawba College. "It's safe to say that three-quarters of registered voters will not show up."
That's because most of the highest-profile races, such as the presidential nomination, already went to voters in March. As well, this second primary comes at an unusual time, a month after North Carolina's typical primary date and at a point where more people are attending graduations and getting ready for summer break.
In a typical election year, the primary winner would have to earn 40 percent of the vote or risk a runoff against the second-place challenger. There is no runoff for this primary, so crowded fields plus low turnout could produce surprising results, Bitzer said.
"These are races that nobody will be able to predict until the votes are counted," he said.
A: Due to two different lawsuits.
A: Yes. But those results weren't tallied. The candidates for U.S. House on the March 15 ballot filed to run based on the old maps. The June 7 election uses the new maps, and there was a whole different filing period.
Q: Now that I know which congressional district I'm in, how do I know if I have someone to vote for?
Although all races are important, the three most hotly contested in the state are:
The Republican primary features 17 candidates, including sitting state Reps. John Blust and Julia Howard and Sen. Andrew Brock, as well as well-known names such as Vernon Robinson and Kay Daly. "It's pretty much a friends and neighbors campaign," Bitzer said. The ultimate winner could move to the general election by landing less than 20 percent of the primary vote.
A: Supreme Court elections are nonpartisan, so candidate's party affiliations won't be listed on the ballot. This election will narrow the field of four to two, who will face off in November. The candidates are:
- Bob Edmunds, the incumbent and a registered Republican
- Sabra Faires, a lawyer now in private practice after years working as a legislative staffer. She is registered unaffiliated.
- Michael Morgan, a Superior Court judge from Wake County who is presiding over a case involving whether the state's voter ID law is legal. He is a registered Democrat.
- Daniel Robertson, a former bank vice president and financial adviser. He is a registered Democrat.
A: Yes, a handful of local races. In the WRAL viewing area, voters in some of Wake County will choose which two of five Superior Court candidates will be on the ballot in the fall.
For those voters who are registered Republicans and Democrats, they must vote in their own party's primary. However, state rules allow unaffiliated voters to choose which party's primary they want to vote in. Unaffiliated voters who chose to vote in one party's primary this March can, if they want, vote in another party's primary for the June election.
You should also know that, even if you find yourself in the wrong precinct on Tuesday, you can still vote if you're in the right county. According to the State Board of Elections, "Voters who appear on Election Day in the correct county but in the improper precinct may cast a provisional ballot, which will be counted for all contests in which the voter was eligible to participate. This 'out-of-precinct voting' option is set to expire after the primary election held June 7, 2016, though the option remains the subject of ongoing litigation in federal court."
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