Why is there a second primary and how does it work?

Vicki Hyatt, The Mountaineer, Waynesville, N.C.
·2 min read

May 7—A run-off election is being held to determine the Republican nominees for lieutenant governor and state auditor. Early voting is underway, with Election Day voting on Tuesday, May 14.

In the March 5 primary, no candidate in either contest received the 30% of votes. So the top two are heading for a run-off: Hal Weatherman or Jim O'Neill for lieutenant governor and Jack Clark or Dave Boliek for state auditor.

Voting is limited to registered Republicans and to unaffiliated voters who either voted the Republican ballot in the primary or didn't vote in the primary.

Haywood County Election Director Robert Inman expects a light turnout. Early voting has been open since April 26, but as of May 6, only 130 ballots had been cast.

In the March primary, Haywood County voter turn-out was 26.7% — with 12,301 ballots cast out of 46,104 registered voters.

There were no locally contested races in the primary, leading to the low turn out. Other than statewide offices, the two main contested races were a challenger to Congressman Chuck Edwards and the Republican Presidential primary.

Both were on the Republican ballot, giving Republicans more of a reason to vote in the primary. More than 5,200 Republican ballots were cast in the Haywood primary, compared to 3,100 Democratic ballots. Among unaffiliated voters, 3,065 chose a Republican ballot, compared to only 854 who chose a Democratic ballot.

Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, May 14. Early voting runs through Saturday, May 11, at the Haywood Senior Resource Center, from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. through Friday and between 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.

Inman expects delayed election night results because of construction on I-40 that will prolong the transport of voting equipment back to election headquarters.

Several precincts have new voting locations for the second primary.

—Due to I-40 construction, the Big Creek, Fines Creek 2 and White Oak precincts will be voting at the Fines Creek 1 precinct.

—The Beaverdam 1 precinct is temporarily at Canton Middle School until the Canton Armory is restored from 2021 flooding.

—The Hazelwood voting precinct has been permanently moved to the Haywood County Schools Conference Center at 112 Virginia Ave.

—The Beaverdam 7 precinct has been permanently moved to Meadowbrook Elementary School.