Voters eager as Election Day nears

Ray Gora / Lincoln TImes-News
The last group to participate in this year’s early voting in Lincoln County waits in a long line Saturday outside elections headquarters in LIncolnton.

SARAH LOWERY
Staff Writer

Early voting for Tuesday’s long-anticipated general election wrapped up Saturday afternoon, and if the number of Lincoln County residents who have already chosen to cast their ballots is any indication, voters can expect big crowds on Election Day.
Crystal Lovingood, assistant director for the county’s Board of Elections, told the Times-News on Friday that more than 1,000 people voted at the Citizens Center in downtown Lincolnton that day alone.
“I can say we will surpass 2008,” she added.
Following the close of one-stop voting Saturday at 1 p.m., it appears as if the numbers confirm her prediction.
According to totals from Elections Director Bill Beam Saturday evening, 18,595 Lincoln County voters cast their ballots during early voting this year. This compares with 17,675 in 2008.
With 52,806 registered voters in the county, that means roughly 35 percent have already been to the polls.
Of those, 8,576 were registered Republicans, 5,845 were Democrats, 4,148 were unaffiliated and 26 were Libertarian.
As in the previous presidential election, the East Lincoln and Lincolnton early-voting sites saw the most activity, while West Lincoln trailed behind.
The Board of Elections office at the Citizens Center saw 9,289 one-stop voters, while 7,798 cast their ballots at the East Lincoln Community Recreation Center on Optimist Club Road in Denver. The North Brook Community Center on N.C. 274 in Vale accounted for 1,508 of the votes.
For those remaining registered voters who have yet to cast their ballots and plan to do so Tuesday, polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The following is the list of precincts and their polling places in Lincoln County:

• Asbury – Boger City Fire Department, 410 McAlister Road
• Boger City – Lincoln School of Technology, 1 Timken Drive
• Buffalo Shoals – Maiden Wesleyan Church, 1125 Ivey Church Road
• Cowan’s Ford – Salem United Methodist Church, 378 N. Pilot Knob Road
• Crouse – Crouse United Methodist Church, 3311 Crouse School Road
• Daniels/Vale – Messiah United Methodist Church, 4102 W. N.C. 27
• Denver – Denver United Methodist Church, 3910 N. N.C. 16
• Denver West – St. James Elementary School, 1774 St. James Church Road
• Heavner’s – Howard’s Creek Community Center, 494 Howard’s Creek School Road
• Hickory Grove – North 321 Volunteer Fire Department, 3769 Maiden Highway
• Iron Station – Pearl Baptist Church, 4657 E. N.C. 27
• Iron Station South – Fellowship Baptist Church, 2891 Long Circle
• Lincolnton/North – Charles Raper Jonas Library, 306 W. Main St.
• Lincolnton/South – Lincoln County Citizens Center – Lobby, 115 W. Main St.
• Lithia – Old Lincoln Medical Center, 200 Gamble Drive
• Long Shoals – South Fork Volunteer Fire Department, 2736 Long Shoals Road
• Love Memorial – Love Memorial School – Gymnasium, 1463 Love Memorial School Road
• Lowesville – Hills Chapel United Methodist Church, 988 S. N.C. 16
• Lowesville West – Faith Baptist Church – Fellowship Hall, 5194 Old Plank Road
• North Brook – North Brook Volunteer Fire Department, 7050 Doyle Beam Memorial Road
• North Brook III – Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, 1156 Northbrook #3 School Road
• Oak Grove – Oak Grove Community Center, 2701 Startown Road
• Ore Bank – Pumpkin Center Intermediate School, 3980 King Wilkinson Road
• Pumpkin Center – Pumpkin Center Volunteer Fire Department, 2911 Lee Lawing Road
• Salem – Salem Baptist Church, 1982 Salem Church Road
• Triangle – East Lincoln Recreation Center, 8160 Optimist Club Road
• Triangle East – Unity Presbyterian Church, 8210 Unity Church Road
• Westport – St. Peter by the Lake Episcopal Church, 8433 Fairfield Forest Road

For more information on voting, including to view a sample ballot, visit the Board of Elections website at www.lincolncounty.org/index.aspx?NID=112 or call (704) 736-8480.