Early voting for Nov. 3 municipal elections in Richmond County kicked off with a boom as Rockingham voters flocked to turn in ballots before the election, County Board of Elections Director Connie Kelly said.

Now, it’s in a bit of a lull.

“We’ve had 197 people cast early votes so far,” Kelly said Friday morning. “Rockingham has had 173 of those, Hamlet has had 24 and that’s all the voting that has taken place.”

Citizens have until 1 p.m. on Halloween to get their early ballots in, while the deadline to request an absentee ballot is Tuesday.

The 2008 election featured choices between Barack Obama and John McCain for President, Larry Kissell and Robin Hayes for Congress and Kay Hagan and Elizabeth Dole for Senate.

Droves of people came out to vote in Richmond County.

“Municipal elections usually don’t have the turnout like what we saw last year,” Kelly said. “But with highly publicized races in Rockingham and Hamlet, we would expect more early voters than we’ve gotten this far.”

Kelly said Hamlet voters usually wait to show up on election day, but Rockingham’s early voting numbers are down from previous elections.

On Nov. 3, Rockingham and Hamlet will each have two precincts open, while Ellerbe will have one and Hoffman’s one precinct has changed.

Rockingham ballots can be cast at Browder Park and Leath Memorial Library on election day.

Hamlet voters will have to report to either the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall or the First Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall to have their voices heard.

In Hoffman, votes have been cast at the school building previously, but the Board of Elections had to make an emergency switch to town hall due to a lack of utilities at the schoolhouse.

“All voters were notified by mail, but a good number of those notices were returned to the Board of Elections as undeliverable,” Kelly said.

Ellerbe Town Hall will be the voting precinct in that town.

For 25 registered voters living at Sierra Gardens Apartments off of Highway 74 behind King’s Gate Church, the question of where to vote is a bit complicated.

“Technically, they live in Hamlet,” Kelly said of the residents of the apartment complex. “However, their voting precinct is Rockingham Number One so they will have to vote at Browder Park.”

Those affected will be able to choose Hamlet officials, though.

The candidates in the Rockingham mayoral race are incumbent Gene McLaurin and challenger Bruce Stanback. John Hutchinson, Steve Morris and Shirley Fuller are the three incumbents vying for their seats, and are being challenged by Travis Billingsley, Teressa Beavers and Jerry Austin Jr.

The Hamlet mayoral race pits incumbent Jeff Smart vs. challenger Jesse McQueen. Two open seats on the city council are being campaigned for by incumbent Abbie Covington and challengers Dr. Diane Honeycutt and Jonathan Buie.

The Hoffman race is for mayor and all five council seats. Incumbent Mayor Jo Ann Jasper-Thomas and incumbent councilmen Lee Butler, Tommy Hart, Kevin Jones, Daniel Kelly and Terry Thomas are all running unopposed.

The Ellerbe race features mayoral candidate Olivia Webb running unopposed, while incumbent councilmen and women Brenda Chambers, Evon Craven and Jerry Meacham are running unopposed for their three seats.

nStaff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.