Early in-person voting began on Thursday for the July 26 local elections for positions to serve in over a dozen North Carolina municipalities or counties.
Voters in Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Hickory, Mooresville and Sanford are choosing mayors, city council members, or both. Mayors Vi Lyles of Charlotte, Nancy Vaughan of Greensboro and Mitch Colvin of Fayetteville are all seeking reelection.
The elections also include runoffs in Cary, New Bern, Rocky Mount and Statesville and for school boards in Franklin and Jackson counties.
And primary nominations will be decided for the Democratic candidate for Wake County sheriff and the Republican candidate for Graham County sheriff. The top two candidates in the May 17 primary in these races advanced to what's called the "second primary."
Early voting sites will close at 3 p.m. July 23. Some county election boards will open sites the weekend of July 17-18.
People who aren't registered to vote can still sign up and vote at the early voting sites. Mail-in absentee voting is also allowed for those who are already registered.
Municipal elections are usually held in odd-numbered years, but the legislature shifted some to this year because of delays in receiving the 2020 census results needed to redraw district boundaries.