By Nathan Ham
After Monday’s votes were tallied across Watauga County, over 10,000 residents have already made their ballots official for the 2018 election. 905 votes were counted on Monday, bringing the total in Watauga County to 10,054 since early voting started two weeks ago.
Of the 905 votes counted on Monday, 302 were at the Watauga County Administration Building. 268 votes were counted at the Plemmons Student Union on Appalachian State’s campus. 103 votes took place in Blowing Rock, 95 were counted at the Western Watauga Community Center, 76 votes were counted in Deep Gap and 61 votes were counted at Meat Camp.
Overall, 3,895 early voters have cast their ballots at App State with another 3,222 ballots being counted from the administration building on King Street. Blowing Rock has seen 916 early votes, Western Watauga Community Center has had 844 votes, Deep Gap has had 668 votes and Meat Camp has had 509 votes.
Democrats and Unaffiliated voters have been the quickest to the polls so far. 3,728 Democratic voters have made their ballots official while 3,717 unaffiliated citizens have voted. 2,481 Republicans have cast their ballots, 44 Libertarians, two Constitution Party and two Green Party voters have chosen to vote early.
As a reminder, early voting will continue from now through Saturday, November 3. The early voting locations in Watauga County are: Watauga County Administration Building Commissioners’ Board Room (814 W. King Street, Boone), ASU Plemmons Student Union Blue Ridge Ballroom (263 Locust Street, Boone), Blowing Rock Town Hall (1036 Main Street, Blowing Rock), Deep Gap Fire Department (6583 Old Highway 421 South, Deep Gap), Meat Camp Fire Department (4797 N.C. Highway 194 North, Boone) and Western Watauga Community Center (1081 Old Highway 421, Sugar Grove). Early voting dates and times are the same for each location. Early voting times are October 17-19, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., October 22-26, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., October 29 – November 2, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., and November 3, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is by Tuesday, October 30. All absentee ballots must be returned by Election Day.