Good morning, readers.
Today is the first day of early voting for the March 5 primary; competition abounds, and if you want to learn more about candidates, read our candidate questionnaires for Wake, Durham, and Orange County races.
This year, early voting is open from February 15 to March 2. Details about locations, hours, and even projected wait times are available on Durham, Orange, and Wake County Board of Elections websites. As always, voters can register or update their registration in-person at early voting sites. But for the first time for many, voters will also be asked to show a photo ID before receiving their ballot.
A wide range of photo IDs are accepted, including student IDs, military IDs, and free IDs issued by County Board of Elections Offices. Voters can also cast a provisional ballot if they don’t have a photo ID.
Those ballots will be counted as long as voters present acceptable ID to the county elections office the day before the county canvas, which is March 14. Voters also have to fill out a form pledging they had a “reasonable impediment” to showing ID initially, such as being unable to wait at the DMV because of their work schedule.
The effect the new requirement will have on turnout remains to be seen. The number of people voting early has trended upward in the last few years. During Wake County’s 2016 primary, 55,594 ballots were cast during early voting, which lasted about 600 hours. In 2020, 78,858 people cast ballots during early voting, over the course of about 1,827 hours.
Unaffiliated voters also continue to outnumber both Democrats and Republicans in Wake County, with 351,000 people unaffiliated compared to 287,000 Democrats and 176,000 Republicans. As the largest bloc, these voters can choose to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary, and they could have a significant impact on the primary election results.
I’ll be keeping a close eye on the primary election results, of course, but unfortunately, it won’t be from my desk at INDY. In two weeks, I’ll be on a flight to Lisbon, Portugal, the first stop on an eight-month tour of Europe. While this is my last newsletter, I look forward to writing about my experience overseas and reporting on local issues once I’m back in the U.S. And since my flight leaves before March 5, I’ll definitely be voting early!
With my sincere thanks,
—Jasmine
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Today’s weather
Sunny with a high of 66 degrees.
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