One Stop Voting begins

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — November 2 will be here before you know it, but you don’t have to wait that long to cast your ballot. One Stop Voting began today.

Although the lines were not as long as they were for One Stop Voting this time two years ago, there were still plenty of voters ready to cast their ballot.

“I wanted to vote early to avoid the long lines, but it looks like I missed out on that,” voter Brenda Stanley said.

A few small glitches at the New Hanover Board of Elections were nipped in the bud.

“We had reports that some machine screens weren’t calibrated, so we did some recalibration,” New Hanover County Director of Elections Bonnie Williams said. “The voters have been very attentive to these voting screens, which is really great. They brought that to our attention.”

After that voting proceeded as planned. Another thing that didn’t go unnoticed were all the campaign volunteers hovering just outside the polls.

“We have hundreds of volunteers, and we really are blessed to have a tremendous following on the internet and the ten counties that make up this congressional district,” Republican Congressional candidate Ilario Pantano said.

A political campaign takes more than a candidate. It needs boots on the ground to do all sorts of things that take up all sorts of time. So why would a volunteer put so much into it?

“Because I think it’s my right and responsibility,” said Eli Klein, a volunteer for US Senate candidate Elaine Marshall.

If you still have not registered to vote, you can do that at the same time you vote during the One Stop Voting period. For more information, including voting locations and times, contact your county Board of Elections.