By Kirk Ross, Staff Writer
Voters in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district and residents of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough will have their say Tuesday, with the outcome of only the uncontested Hillsborough mayor’s race certain going into Election Day.
Early voting ends this weekend with the close of balloting on Saturday. Results so far show 1,228 casting their ballots as of Wednesday afternoon at early-voting sites in Hillsborough, Carrboro and Chapel Hill.
Only 69 residents have voted early at the board of elections office in Hillsborough, 486 at Carrboro Town Hall and 673 at Morehad Planetarium. The three sites will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Hours in Hillsborough are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The two sites in southern Orange will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
The vote totals represent an increase in early voting from the 2007 municipal and school board elections. That year, 558 voters cast their ballots at Morehead Planetarium, 568 at Carrboro Town Hall and 130 in Hillsborough. Although the totals for this year show an increase, it’s hard to predict whether there will be an actual increase in turnout since more voters have taken advantage of early-voting opportunities in each cycle since it was introduced in the state in 2000. In last year’s presidential race, overall turnout was roughly 71 percent, with more than 55,000 voters casting ballots through early voting.
The overall turnout in the 2007 cycle was 15.57 percent. In 2005, the overall turnout was 14.84 percent, with Hillsborough reporting a 28 percent turnout; Chapel Hill, 14.17 percent; and Carrboro, 15.56 percent.
On the ballot
In Chapel Hill, the on-again-off-again departure of Kevin Wolff has added some confusion to a four-way race for Chapel Hill mayor.
Wolff, who has run twice before for the office without success, told radio listeners at a forum sponsored last week by WCHL that he was withdrawing from the race. He remains on the ballot though, and has not endorsed any other candidate, taken down signs or withdrawn fliers distributed at early-voting sites.
In a letter of support sent to The Citizen, his wife Mary called on voters unhappy with decisions by the town council to lodge a protest vote for her husband.
Wolff could play the role of spoiler in the four-way mayor’s race, which includes town transportation board chair Augustus Cho and council members Matt Czajkowski and Mark Kleinschmidt.
The Chapel Hill Town Council election also features a large field of candidates, with incumbents Laurin Easthom, Ed Harrison and Jim Merritt and challengers John DeHart, Gene Pease, Matt Pohlman, Will Raymond and Penny Rich.
In Carrboro, the mayor’s race is similar to two years ago, with two-term incumbent Mark Chilton facing two challengers — Brian Voyce, who also ran two years ago, and newcomer Amanda Ashley.
There are three seats up for grabs in the Carrboro Board of Aldermen election. The race will determine who replaces Alderman John Herrera, who resigned his seat recently and moved to Holly Springs. In addition to the open seat, the race features incumbents Randee Haven-O’Donnell and Jacquie Gist and challengers Sharon Cook, Tim Peck and Sammy Slade.
This year will mark major changes in the composition of the board of education for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. Two incumbents on the board opted not to seek re-election. Only Greg McElveen, who was appointed in 2008 to fill out the term of Pam Hemminger, who was elected to the county commission, is the only incumbent seeking a seat. He is joined in the race by Michelle Brownstein, Susan Dancy, Joe Green, MaryAnne Gucciardi and Christine Lee.
On the ballot in Hillsborough is Mayor Tom Stevens, who is running unopposed. Running for town board are incumbents Mike Gering and Frances Dancy and challenger Bryant Kelly Warren Jr.
In Chatham County, Pittsboro Mayor Randy Voller is being challenged by William Crawford and incumbent town board member Pamela Baldwin faces challengers Andrew Allden and Michael Fiocco.