ROCKINGHAM — Absentee ballots are now available for the upcoming special election for the U.S. House of Representatives, according to Elections Director Connie Kelly.
Civillians can request an absentee ballot until 5 p.m., Tuesday Sept. 3 with a turn-in deadline of 5 p.m. Sept. 10, which will be the day of the election, Kelly said. Uniformed or overseas citizens can request a ballot until 5 p.m. Sept. 9, the day before the election, with a deadline of 7:30 p.m.(when the polls close) on election day.
Kelly said the uniformed and overseas ballots can be transmitted electronically.
If mail-in ballots are postmarked by Sept. 10 and received by Sept. 13, they can still be counted, she added.
Early voting will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21 through Friday, Sept. 6, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31 at the Cooperative Extension office on Caroline Street.
The election will be held Sept. 10.
The 9th Congressional District race features two candidates who were in the original race, Democrat Dan McCready and Libertarian Jeff Scott, against Republican Dan Bishop and Green Party Candidate Allen Smith.
McCready narrowly lost to former Republican candidate the Rev. Mark Harris in November and conceded, but withdrew the concession once questions were raised about voting improprieties in Bladen and Robeson counties.
The N.C. State Board of Elections failed to certify the results and new election was called for following a hearing.
Harris withdrew from the redo, citing poor health.
Leslie McCrae Dowless, who worked for the Harris campaign, and others have been criminally charged.
Bishop won the Republican primary in May with 47 percent of the vote.
The seat has been vacant for more than eight months since former Rep. Robert Pittenger, who lost last year’s Republican primary to Harris, left office. Congress was sworn in Jan. 3.
(Note: This story has been edited to reflect a clarification.)
