Go. Vote.

The North Carolina Election Code, which I recommend reading only while waiting for your Lunesta to kick in, is at best cumbersome, and at worst unintelligible. So the Indy has deciphered the jargon so you don’t have to.

This fall’s first election is Oct. 9; if you would rather vote early (but not often), one-stop voting runs through Oct. 6.

In this issue, the Indy endorses candidates for the Oct. 9 races, including Durham and Raleigh city councils, Wake County school board, Cary mayor and town council, and Wake County and Raleigh bond referendums. The Durham council race is a primary, in which the field will be narrowed to two candidates for each seat, who will then face off Nov. 6. The Wake school board and Raleigh council races will be decided on Oct. 9, unless runoffs are necessary (which would then be held Nov. 6). The Cary mayor and council races will be decided on Oct. 9, with instant run-off voting (see next week’s Independent for more on that new initiative).

We endorse in contested races only, not those in which candidates are running unopposed.

If you don’t see a specific race in this issue, that contest is likely scheduled for the Nov. 6 election. That’s when Orange and Chatham counties will hold their municipal elections and voters in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district will choose school board members. Chatham voters will also decide on the land-transfer tax. Durham voters will finalize the council, elect a mayor and weigh in on two bond referendums; and any Wake County runoffs will be held.

Look for those endorsements in our Oct. 24 issue. And go to our Elections section to read candidates’ answers to our questionnaires.