[Durham INC] Early voting has started

[Pat Carstensen]

Hours and locations are at http://www.co.durham.nc.us/departments/elec/2010_Election/November%20Election/November%202010%20ONE-STOP%20SCHEDULE.pdf
The easy bit:  Remember to vote both sides of the ballot.
The important bit:  Getting information on the judicial elections is HARD (the official guide is full of happy talk), but the alternative is activist judges who chip away at the laws that protect neighborhoods (the latest outrage is the NC Supreme Court decision that bulldozing right up to a trout stream to put in golf greens is only a "temporary impairment").  So don't skip the judges' races. 
The complicated bit:  Judge James Wynn of the NC Court of Appeals was appointed by President Obama to the federal bench after the May primaries.  There are 13 people running for this seat (Judge Cressie Thigpen was appointed by Governor Perdue to fill the seat and is running for a full term).  Normally we would have a primary (and maybe a run-off) to get the field down to 2, but that would be expensive.  So we are having an Instant Run Off.  What you will see on the ballot is 3 columns with all 13 names in each columns.  You can vote once in each column -- for your first, second and third choices (if any).   How it gets counted: If someone gets 50% in the first round, they win.  If no-one gets 50%, the counters take the top 2 vote getters, call them Alice and Bob.  To count votes, they use these rules:1) If votes is (1) Alice, (2) Bob, (3) Ted --> Alice gets this vote2) If votes is (1) Bob, (2) Alice, (3) Ted --> Bob gets this vote3) If votes is (1) Ted, (2) Bob, (3) Alice --> Bob gets this vote4) If votes is (1) Ted, (2) Alice, (3) Bob --> Alice gets this vote5) If votes is (1) Ted, (2) Sarah, (3) Alice --> Alice gets this vote
6) If votes is (1) Ted, (2) Sarah, (3) Bob --> Bob gets this vote
Regards, pat





 		 	   		  
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