Board of Elections Director Kristin Scott said with the swift turnout and another week of early voting to go, she expects as many as 13,000 people in the county will have voted before the November 8 election. “I would like to see the numbers go higher,” she said
There has been steady turnout, mainly in Roanoke Rapids and Halifax, she said. “It could be higher in Scotland Neck. People in those areas are not utilizing it. Roanoke Rapids is staying busy as well as the one in Halifax.”
Thus far, 4,911 Democrats have voted; 646 Republicans have voted; 1,086 unaffiliated registrants have voted and four Libertarians have voted.
Scott believes by the end of voting on November 8 the county will see a 70 percent voter turnout. “I’d like to see it higher. In 2008 we had 69 percent, in 2012 we were around about the same. With all the calls and absentee ballots, we’re looking at 70 percent.”
Early voting ends next Saturday.
Scott said there was no means to tell how many people have voted on a supplemental school tax for Halifax County schools, only that 22,969 were eligible.
The only complaints received during early voting have been pre-marked sample ballots, she said, which is legal as long as those handing them out stay beyond a 50-feet boundary. “As long as they’re beyond the boundary they can pass out whatever they want.”