Don't forget to vote

Polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Robert C. Reed | Hickory Daily Record

Jeffery Rippy, with AAA Moving & Storage, delivers voting equipment to Highland Recreation Center in Hickory on Monday afternoon.

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Board of Elections Web site

By Sarah Newell Williamson | Hickory Daily Record

Published: November 3, 2009

NEWTON - The Catawba County Board of Elections staff spent Monday preparing for Election Day today.

"We started at 8 a.m., with trucks delivering equipment to the polling locations," said Larry Brewer, director of the Board of Elections. "The precinct judges delivered what the trucks couldn't."

Catawba County had about 2 percent of registered voters participate in early voting this year, with 452 people voting at the Highland Recreation Center and 895 people voting at the Main Library in Newton. Brewer said that even for an "off" election year, where there are no major offices up for election, that number was a little low.

Brewer attributed it to some people running for offices unopposed.

"A lot of offices don't have opposition, like the Hickory mayor," he said. "If there's opposition, that will bring out more people."

Brewer warned that there can always be write-in candidates, though. And write-in candidates need only one vote more than the people who actually filed for the position to win.

Polling precincts are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Brewer said results should start streaming online at about 8:15 or 8:30 p.m. Go to www.catawbacountync.gov/elect to see election results.