The Latest: Polls close, get latest election results on WRAL
Tuesday is primary election day across North Carolina, but not many people seem to care.
Only 4 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the recent early voting period, and turnout appeared to be light at several precincts checked by WRAL News.
Get the latest election results here, including precinct-level maps.
Although most polls have closed, anyone in line at closing time will be allowed to vote.
The State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement voted Tuesday afternoon to extend voting at one precinct in Hoke County until 7:45 p.m. because it opened late. Voting was extended until 8:15 p.m. at a precinct in Robeson County after a vehicle crash in front of the polling site blocked traffic for a while, preventing people from getting in or out.
A precinct at a Franklin County elementary school was briefly locked down following a nearby shooting Tuesday morning, but state officials declined to extend voting there, saying voting wasn't disrupted for too long.
No photo identification is needed to vote, but you must vote at your home precinct. The address is printed on your voter registration card, or you can search by your name online.
Anyone who hasn't yet registered to vote is out of luck, as the registration deadline was last month and same-day registration is allowed only during early voting.
Also, North Carolina is an open primary state, so unaffiliated voters can choose whether they want to vote in the Republican, Democratic or Libertarian primaries.
The only known issue with voting Tuesday was reported in Roanoke Rapids, where an unknown number of voters were mistakenly told they couldn't vote because poll workers weren't completing the electronic check-in, Halifax County elections director Kristin Scott said. Officials quickly diagnosed the problem and walked poll workers through the required steps, Scott said, adding that no voters were turned away but that some left because of the ensuing wait.
What's on the ballot?
Although there are no statewide primaries, such as president, governor or U.S. senator, on the ballot this year, there are still plenty of races where voters will whittle down the field of candidates before the November general election.
Most of North Carolina's 13 U.S. House seats have at least one primary, with Democratic Congressman David Price and Republicans George Holding and Robert Pittenger all facing challengers.
All 170 seats in the General Assembly are up for election this year, and unlike past elections, almost every House and Senate seat will be contested. Still, not all will have a primary.
Some legislative races of note include House District 11, where Rep. Duane Hall, D-Wake, has been accused of sexual harassment and is facing first-time candidate Allison Dahle, and Senate District 21, where Sen. Ben Clark, D-Hoke, has beaten back a challenge to his candidacy by opponent Naveed Aziz over whether Clark actually lives in the district.
The ongoing legal battle over legislative voting districts means that some people might be in a different district than in past elections when voting for state representatives or senators. WRAL.com has an interactive map to see how your district – and the incumbents on your ballot – have been affected.
Races for seats on county boards of commissioners, school boards and sheriffs dominate the ballot.
In Wake County, the Democratic primaries for five commissioner seats have been extraordinarily rancorous, with some deep-pocketed donors trying to unseat commissioners they supported in the last election. School funding, a failed golf course, allegations of misleading campaign ads and a campaign finance complaint have become part of the bitter back and forth in the contests.
Although commissioner candidates live in specific districts, they run countywide, so Wake County voters who cast a Democratic ballot will have a say in all five races.
No judges are on the May ballot after lawmakers did away with judicial primaries this year while they rework judicial districts.
Wake votes reported more slowly
Wake County voters looking for election results might notice vote totals coming in more slowly than usual. According to the State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, this is the new normal for election nights as a way to beef up security.
In past elections, precincts would send their vote totals to the county elections office via modem shortly after closing, allowing officials to tabulate them quickly. But following allegations of Russian attempts to hack U.S. elections in 2016, state officials decided no more modems would be used, even though the vendor insists the transmission system is safe and officials have no evidence to the contrary.
Instead, five counties, including Wake and Harnett, must tabulate votes the same way the other 95 do it – by driving the data readers from each voting machine from every precinct to the county elections office, where the totals can be retrieved manually. Wake County elections officials said vote totals will be posted as results arrive at the office, and all precincts should be accounted for by 10:30 p.m.
