Here’s where to vote early for 9th District, Charlotte city elections starting Wednesday
Early voting starts Wednesday for two elections in which turnout could be crucial.
Voting starts for the 9th Congressional District special election to fill a seat that will have been vacant for nine months.
And Charlotte voters will vote in primaries that in many cases are tantamount to the general election. The elections themselves are Sept. 10.
In the 9th District, voters will begin casting ballots throughout the district that runs from southeast Charlotte to Bladen County.
Democrat Dan McCready faces Republican Dan Bishop as well as Libertarian Jeff Scott and Allen Smith of the Green Party.
McCready ran in the 2018 election, which was thrown out after evidence of absentee ballot fraud orchestrated by a Bladen County operative working for Republican candidate Mark Harris.
For both major parties, the special election is considered a harbinger of 2020. That’s why outside groups have spent millions in the race.
Bishop and McCready are scheduled to meet Aug. 28 for their only debate, one sponsored by the Observer and WBTV.
In Charlotte, residents will vote in primaries that in effect will elect a mayor and at least three new council members.
In the mayor’s race, incumbent Democrat Vi Lyles faces four Democratic challengers. The winner faces a perennial Republican candidate.
Open seats in Districts 2, 3 and 4 will guarantee new members. In the at-large race, seven Democrats, including five incumbents, are running for four seats. In southeast District 7, a Republican voters will effectively elect a council member.
In Union County, four early voting sites will open Wednesday. In Mecklenburg, voting starts at 8 a.m. Wednesday at uptown’s Hal Marshall Center, 618 N. College St. The Hal Marshall Center will be open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays through Sept. 6.
Early voting expands Thursday to a dozen other sites. Those sites will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays.
All sites will be open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24 and Saturday, Aug. 31; and 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25. Early voting ends Friday, Sept. 6. All early voting sites are closed Sunday, Sept. 1 and Labor Day.
The additional early voting sites:
▪ Beatties Ford Library, 2412 Beatties Ford Road.
▪ Elon Park Rec Center, 11401 Ardrey Kell Road.
▪ Independence Regional Library, 6000 Conference Drive.
▪ Main Library, 310 N. Tryon St.
▪ Matthews Library, 230 Matthews Station St.
▪ Mint Hill Library, 6840 Matthews–Mint Hill Road.
▪ Morrison Regional Library, 7015 Morrison Blvd.
▪ Smith Family Center, 1600 Tyvola Road.
▪ South County Regional Library, 5801 Rea Road.
▪ Old Hollywood Video, 11130 S Tryon St. (Steele Creek)
▪ Old Pier 1, 8802 JW Clay Blvd. (University City).
▪ West Boulevard Library, 2157 West Blvd.
