Early voting begins today, Thursday, Oct. 23

After months of dueling campaign advertisements and debates, voters across the state will be able to cast ballots starting today, Thursday, Oct. 23. Early voting runs through Saturday Nov. 1; Election day is Tuesday Nov. 4.

Western North Carolina voters this year have a chance to weigh in on a lengthy list of local and state races that could help shape the region’s course for years to come.

For ongoing coverage of many of the key local races visit the Xpress politics page here.

Xpress also partnered this year with a nonpartisan local nonprofit, Children First/Communities in Schools, to distribute an extensive Buncombe County Voter Guide. It includes more information on various races, such as the N.C. General Assembly and Buncombe County’s district attorney, sheriff and school board. View it online here.

Here’s the complete list of early voting sites available in Buncombe County:

William Stanley Center
35 Woodfin St. Asheville
Thursday, Oct. 23-Friday, Oct. 31: 9 a.m. – 5pm (Excluding Sunday). Saturday, Nov. 1: 7 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Open hours at all other early voting Sites:
Thursday, Oct. 23-Friday, Oct. 25: 9 a.m.- 6 p.m.
Monday, Oct.27-Friday, Oct. 31: 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 1: 7 a.m.-1 p.m.

North Asheville Branch Library
1030 Merrimon Ave.

Woodfin Community Center
11 Community St.

Weaverville Town Hall
30 S. Main St.

Jupiter Volunteer Fire Dept.
331 Jupiter Rd.

South Buncombe Branch Library
260 Overlook Rd.

Skyland Fire Dept.
9 Miller Rd. South

Pole Creek Baptist Church
96 Snow Hill Church Rd.

West Asheville Branch Library
942 Haywood Rd.

Heaven’s Cloud Retreat (Old Enka Union Hall)
130 Sardis Rd.

Leicester Branch Library
1561 Alexander Rd.

Fairview Branch Library
1 Taylor Rd.

Asheville Mall (McAlister’s Entrance)
3 South Tunnel Rd.

Bee Tree Fire Dept. Substation
510 Bee Tree Rd.

Black Mountain Branch Library
105 N. Dougherty St.

For more information visit the Buncombe County Election Services Dept. website.

If you don’t vote early, you can look up your Election Day polling place and ballot info using this embedded tool from the Voting Information Project, a partnership between Pew Charitable Trust and Google:

Update: Here’s more information via a press release from the State Board of Elections:

One-stop early voting begins Thursday at 367 sites across North Carolina, the most sites ever offered during a midterm election. Registered voters may participate at any early voting site in their county of residence from October 23 through November 1.  Voters choosing to vote on Election Day must do so in their proper precinct.

“We encourage voters to take advantage of the early voting options within their county,” Executive Director Kim Westbrook Strach of the State Board of Elections.

The State Board of Elections has provided an online schedule of early voting locations. The Agency has also published a mobile application available for Android devices and has coordinated with the Voting Information Project to offer an API to third-party application developers looking to incorporate North Carolina voting data.

Opportunities to vote during evening hours increased by nearly 70% over 2010, the most recent non-presidential general election, during which one in three voters cast their ballots at early voting locations.

Photo identification will not be required to participate in this election, though election officials will inform voters that photo identification will be required beginning in January 2016.  Voters who present at one-stop locations will be shown an illustration of acceptable forms of identification. Those who indicate that they do not possess an appropriate form of identification will be provided written information on how to obtain a no-cost identification card from the Division of Motor Vehicles and asked to sign an acknowledgement.

More than 20,000 North Carolinians had already cast absentee ballots as of Wednesday morning.