Primary Early Voting numbers hold strong

Feb. 24—CALDWELL COUNTY — More than 2,000 people have cast their ballot during the primary Early Voting period so far in the county.

As of Thursday, 2,137 ballots were cast. The majority, 1,813 ballots, were cast on a Republican ballot and 316 were on a Democrat ballot.

The Thursday totals showed that hundreds of more voters went out to the polls later in the week. The total ballots as of Tuesday were only 1,408.

According to data, more than half of voters are going to the Lenoir poll, and a little less than half are attending the Granite Falls location.

Early voting is continuing through next week, and next Saturday, March 2, will be open for the last day of Early Voting.

Voters are remembering to bring their ID's, Barnes said. A photo ID is required in order to vote. While a North Carolina driver's license is used by most voter's, there is a list of permissible IDs on Caldwell County Board of Elections' website.

Barnes said election officials haven't noticed any confusion about party voting. For primary elections, voters can only vote with a ballot associated with their registered part affiliation, if they are registered with a party. Only unaffiliated voters can choose which ballot to use. The deadline to switch party affiliation status for this election passed Feb. 9.

Voters can cast their ballots at the Caldwell County Resource Center and the Granite Falls Shuford Recreation Center.

Early voting will be held Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The last day for early voting will be Saturday, March 2, and voting will last from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. that day. March 2 will be the only Saturday of early voting.

The Caldwell County Resource Center is located at 120 Hospital Ave, Lenoir, NC 28645.

The Granite Falls Shuford Recreation Center is located at 56 Pinewood Rd, Granite Falls, NC 28630.