By Jesse Wood
The candidate-filing period for the presidential primary and general election in 2016 begins tomorrow, Tuesday, Dec. 1, at noon.
With the N.C. General Assembly and Gov. Pat McCrory deciding to move up the primary to March – instead of May as it has been in the past – candidates must announce their candidacy earlier as well.
The candidate-filing period ends on Monday, Dec. 21, at noon.
“We have about three weeks. Hopefully, we’ll have a good turnout and lots of folks filing to run,” Watauga County Elections Director Matt Snyder said.
These are some of the seats up for election locally:
County Commissioner:
- District 1- Yates seat
- District 2- Welch seat
- District 4- Blust seat
Register of Deeds: Amy Shook seat
School Board:
- Ron Henries;
- Brenda Cole Reese;
- Barbara Kinsey seats
Soil & Water: Angela Gragg seat (filing for this race doesn’t begin until June 13th and runs until July 1st)
24th Judicial District Seats:
- Superior Court- Horne seat
- District Court-McEntire seat
- District Court- Eggers-Gryder seat
- District Court- Harrison seat
N.C. House and Senate seats and the U.S. 5th District Seat.
See what seats are up for election here.
See other important dates for elections in Watauga:
Monday, Jan. 25—Absentee Voting begins
Friday, Feb. 19—Voter Registration Deadline
Thursday, March 3—One Stop early voting begins
Tuesday, March 8—Last day to request an Absentee Ballot by mail
Saturday, March 12—One Stop early voting ends at 1 p.m.
Monday, March 14—Absentee Ballot Request deadline 5 p.m.
Monday, March 14— Voter Registration deadline 5 p.m.
Tuesday, March 15—Election Day—Presidential Preference/Statewide Primary—Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.