Early voting for the March 3 primary begins on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 8 a.m. at 15 locations in Guilford County.
Looking at the map of all the early voting locations it is striking that the entire eastern third of Guilford County has no early voting locations. The accusation of gerrymandering has been made so often the word has become commonplace. Unfortunately, early-voting-mandering doesn’t have the same ring.
But it’s hard not to notice that both UNCG and NC A&T State University have early voting sites but the towns of Whitsett, Sedalia and Gibsonville do not. Summerfield and Pleasant Garden are also without early voting sites; however, Jamestown and Oak Ridge do have sites.
Because the governor is a Democrat, the Guilford County Board of Elections has a Democratic majority, and in this era of highly partisan politics, it’s hard not to notice that East Greensboro, which votes heavily Democratic, has four early voting sites while eastern Guilford County, which votes Republican has none.
Of course, this is a primary election when Republicans are running against Republicans and Democrats are running against Democrats, but if the same early voting sites are used for the general election in November, it would certainly give Democratic candidates an advantage.
Voting at the Old Guilford County Court House at 301 W. Market in Greensboro and Washington Terrace Park at 101 Gordon St. in High Point are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The other 13 voting locations open at 8 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. during the week and are open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22 and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23.
All locations are closed on Saturday, Feb. 15; Sunday, Feb. 16; Sunday March 1; and Monday, March 2. However, on Saturday, Feb 29 – the last day for early voting – all locations are open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The other locations are:
Ag Center Barn, 3309 Burlington Road
Barber Park Pavillion, 1500 Dans Road
Brown Recreation Center, 302 Vandalia Road
Bur-Mil Club, 5834 Bur-Mil Club Road
Craft Recreation Center, 3911 Yanceyville St.
Leonard Recreation Center, 6324 Ballinger Road
NC A&T State University-Dudley Building, 202 University Cir.
UNCG-Kaplan Center for Wellness, 1301 Gate City Blvd.
Deep River Recreation Center, 1529 Skeet Club Road, High Point
Oakview Recreation Center, 503 James Road, High Point
Roy B. Culler, Jr. Senior Center, 600 N. Hamilton St., High Point
Jamestown Town Hall, 301 E. Main St., Jamestown
Oak Ridge Town Hall, 8315 Linville Road, Oak Ridge
To see the complete schedule for early voting or take a look at a sample ballot, visit the Guilford County Board of Elections Office website at www.guilfordelections.org.
For more information, call 336-641-3836.