800+ people come out for first day of early voting in Brunswick County

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Early voting for the North Carolina primary elections began Thursday, with 883 people in Brunswick County casting their ballots on the first day.

The early voting period extends from now until March 2nd.

Affiliated voters are restricted to voting within their respective party, while unaffiliated voters have the flexibility to choose which party’s primary they wish to participate in.

A valid photo ID is required to cast a ballot.

Not only is a photo ID necessary, being educated on candidates is important as well. Some candidates no longer actively running but remaining on the ballot due to missed withdrawal deadlines.

Brunswick County Elections Director Sara LaVere stresses the significance of coming prepared to vote, even though all voters will be accommodated. She explains provisional ballots for individuals whose eligibility or registration status cannot be immediately verified.

“If someone votes a provisional ballot, it’s really that we can’t right there on the spot determine their eligibility, find their name in the voter list, confirm something they’re telling us about their registration like their party,” said LaVere. “Someone may say I sent in a change and you should have processed it, I wanted to change my party. It just gives us time to process and research those and make sure that if that person is eligible to vote in that party or they are really registered we can do the research to take care of that.”

For helpful information before heading to the ballot box for early voting, visit the North Carolina State Board of Elections website.