The League of Women Voters of Dare County will hold its Southern Shores candidates’ forum for the November municipal election on Monday, Oct. 2, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center, according to the LWV’s Facebook page.
The public may submit questions for the four candidates running for Southern Shores Town Council before the forum to LWVdare@gmail.com. The LWV asks that you include your name and your town with your question(s).
The four candidates vying for three positions on the Town Council are incumbents Matt Neal and Mark Batenic and challengers Robert E. Neilson and Michael Guarracino.
We have seen no evidence of campaigning in town, which is highly unusual—and, frankly, disappointing—considering early voting starts in less than six weeks.
The LWV will hold candidate forums in the towns of Manteo, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, and Duck on Oct. 3, 4, 5, 10, and 12, respectively, also from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
See https://www.facebook.com/lwvdarenc/ for details. Southern Shores’ own Lorelei DiBernardo is coordinating all of the candidate forums.
Election Day is Nov. 7. Early voting begins Thurs., Oct. 19, and continues through Sat., Nov. 4. For the hours and days of early voting at the two polling places, the Kill Devil Hills Town Hall and Dare County Administrative Offices in Manteo, see https://www.darenc.gov/departments/elections/voting.
You may register to vote up until Fri., Oct. 13.
Requests for absentee ballots will be accepted by the Dare County Board of Elections until Tues., Oct. 31. All absentee ballots must be filed by 5 p.m. on Election Day.
For the answers to all of your election questions, see the Dare County Board of Elections website at https://www.darenc.gov/departments/elections.
PHOTO ID REQUIRED
For the first time in North Carolina, you will be required to show a photo ID when you vote in person. All absentee voters will have to submit a copy of an accepted ID with their ballot.
Registered voters who arrive at the polls without an acceptable photo ID may still vote with a provisional ballot if they:
1) complete a Photo ID Exception Form, which asks them to choose from among a number of “reasonable impediments”* that prevent them from showing an ID; OR
2) bring an acceptable photo ID to the Dare County Board of Elections office in Manteo by 5 p.m. on Nov. 16.
All provisional ballots submitted with properly completed ID exception forms must be counted.
All of the following are acceptable photo IDs, provided they are unexpired or expired for one year or less:
- N.C. driver’s license
- U.S. passport book/U.S. passport card
- State ID from the N.C. Dept. of Motor Vehicles (“non-operator ID”)
- N.C. voter photo ID card, issued by a county board of elections (free)
- College/university student ID approved by the N.C. State Board of Elections
- State/local government employee ID approved by the N.C. State Board of Elections
- Driver’s license/non-driver ID from another state, D.C., or U.S. territory, provided the voter registered in N.C. within 90 days of the election
Any of the following are acceptable photo IDs, regardless of whether the ID contains an expiration or issuance date:
- Military or veteran ID card issued by the U.S. government
- Tribal enrollment card issued by a State or federally recognized tribe
- ID card issued by a U.S. government agency or the State of N.C. for a public assistance program
You may obtain a free photo ID from the Dare County Board of Elections, which is located at 954 Marshall Collins Drive in the Dare County Administrative Offices complex in Manteo and open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F; phone: (252) 475-5631.
PLEASE NOTE: Voters age 65 and older may use an expired photo ID if it was unexpired on their 65th birthday.
*Reasonable impediments listed on the ID Exception Form include:
- Lack of transportation
- Disability or illness
- Lack of birth certificate or other documents needed to obtain ID
- Work or school schedule
- Family responsibilities
- Photo ID lost, stolen, or misplaced
- Photo ID pending; have applied for it, but have not received it yet
- Religious objection to being photographed
- Victim of a natural disaster within 100 days before Election Day that resulted in a disaster declaration by the President of the United State of the Governor of North Carolina.
Voters who vote by mail may indicate that they are unable to attach a copy of a photo ID, provided they also include their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
To see the complete list of acceptable photo IDs and details on how to request State Board of Elections approval for student and employee IDs, see ncsbe.gov/voter-ID.
In light of the new photo ID requirement, we strongly encourage you to vote early. You can expect delays on Election Day related to implementation/management of the ID requirement. We see SNAFU and DELAY written all over this change in procedure.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 9/10/23
The Southern Shores Beacon 