Early voting for the Nov. 3rd general election starts Thursday., Oct. 15, and continues until Saturday, Oct. 31. You may vote at either of these two polling places:
- Kill Devil Hills Town Hall, 102 Town Hall Drive in KDH
- Dare County Administration Bldg., 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, in Manteo
Be sure to bring a photo ID.
Voting hours are Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. There are no weekend hours during the early-voting period, but the polls will be open on Sat., Oct. 31, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information about early voting, including same-day voter registration, see https://www.darenc.gov/departments/elections/voting.
BOARD OF EDUCATION CANDIDATES’ FORUM OCT. 14, 7 p.m.
The Dare County League of Women Voters (LWV) will hold a forum Wednesday, Oct. 14, in Manteo for the candidates running in contested elections for seats on the Dare County Board of Education.
The forum will be held in the Dare Board of Commissioners’ Meeting Room, starting at 7 p.m. You may email questions for the candidates through Sunday to lwvdareforums@gmail.com. The LWV asks that you include your name and town of residence with your email. Questions will also be collected from the audience during the forums.
Republican Rich Shope and Write-in Candidate Mary Robinson are vying for the District 3 seat, which represents Kitty Hawk and Southern Shores on the seven-member Board.
Democrat Kelleta Govan and Republican Stephen Nichols are running for an open District 1 seat, one of two that represents the mainland and Roanoke Island on the Board.
Board of Education members serve four-year terms.
The District 3 election was an uncontested one until Ms. Robinson was officially certified in July by the Dare County Board of Elections as a write-in candidate.
Ms. Robinson initially sought to have her name placed on the November ballot as an unaffiliated candidate and submitted nearly 1400 petition signatures from Dare County voters in support of her candidacy, according to her campaign.
N.C. election law requires unaffiliated candidates to collect 4 percent of registered voters’ signatures in order to qualify for placement on the ballot. Because more than 100 signatures that Ms. Robinson submitted were deemed to be invalid, for reasons such as duplicate signatures and lapsed voter registration, she fell 32 signatures short of what was required.
No other Dare LWV forums are being held this election cycle because Republican candidates in contested local races did not make themselves available, or, as the League announced: There were “insufficient acceptances of our invitations.”
The League had hoped to have Republican incumbent Ervin Bateman and Democrat Aida Havel, who are running for Dare County commissioner, at large, and the candidates for the N.C. House of Representatives and the N.C. State Senate, District 1, participate in its traditional forums.
Republican Edward C. Goodwin is running against Democrat Miriam Rollin for the House seat, and Democrat Melissa Zehner is facing off against Republican Jerry Tillett for the Senate seat.
See the sample ballot, above, and on the Dare County Board of Elections website for the names of all candidates:
Be sure to turn your ballot over to see the referenda on the reverse that you are being asked to vote either “for” or “against.”
The N.C. General Assembly has proposed three amendments to the N.C. State Constitution, and Dare County has proposed an increase of 0.25 percent in the county sales and use tax, from the current 6.75 percent to 7.0 percent.
We will publish a post next week about the proposed constitutional amendments, which are being advocated by Republicans and opposed by Democrats.
PARADE OF HOMES, OCT. 8-10: We are in the middle of the 2026 Parade of Homes, sponsored by the Outer Banks Home Builders Assn. This year’s parade features 18 properties, 15 of which are residential, including two in Southern Shores: new houses at 35 Ocean View Loop and 109 High Dune Loop.
The properties will be open for viewing from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and tomorrow. Event tickets cost $20. For all Parade info, see https://www.obhomebuilders.org/2026-parade-of-homes/.
By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 10/9/26
