On the first day of early voting for this year’s May primary election Thursday, Chancellor Carol L. Folt cast her ballot at North Carolina Hillel at 210 W. Cameron Ave., the early voting site closest to the UNC campus.
A small crowd gathered in front of the building, decorated for the day with red, white and blue balloons, to hear remarks by Folt, U.S. Rep. David Price, N.C. Rep. Verla Insko, Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt, UNC Student Body President Andrew Powell and N.C. Hillel Executive Director Ari Gauss.
Folt spoke about the similarities between education and voting. “Education is about opportunity for the future. And that’s one thing about Carolina everybody talks about. It’s a place you can come to from any place, and you can find opportunity that can shape a life,” she said. “And what is voting? Voting is your chance to have a say in the future.”
Kleinschmidt thanked the people in government, at the university and in the political parties for working together to find an early voting site, and he thanked the people at N.C. Hillel for allowing their building to be used.
“This is an example of us, all of us, working together, a great analogy for the whole point of voting. This is a time for all of us to put our shoulders to the wheel and make the change that we’re seeking,” Kleinschmidt said. He ended his remarks with a rousing, “Let’s go do democracy!” as he led the group inside to vote.
Early voting concludes May 3. In addition to N.C. Hillel, four other sites across Orange County will be open for early voting: Carrboro Town Hall, 301 W. Main St., Carrboro; the Seymour Senior Center, 2551 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill; the Master’s Garden Preschool, 7500 Schley Road, Hillsborough; and the Board of Elections office, 208 S. Cameron St., Hillsborough.
These are the early voting hours at the Board of Elections office:
- Thursday and Friday, April 24 and April 25 – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Saturdays, April 26 and May 3 – 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Monday – Friday, April 28 to May 2 – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
These are the hours for the other four early voting sites:
- Thursdays, April 24 and May 1 – noon to 7 p.m.
- Fridays, April 25 and May 2 – noon to 6 p.m.
- Saturdays, April 26 and May 3– 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Monday – Wednesday, April 28 to April 30 – noon to 7 p.m.
Because of a change in state law, citizens are no longer allowed to register during the early voting period. The deadline to register to vote in the May 6 election was April 11. To check your registration information, for more information about statewide early voting sites or to see a sample ballot, please go to the N.C. Board of Elections website at http://www.ncsbe.gov.
By Susan Hudson, UNC News Services
Published April 24, 2014.