Richmond County voter Ronald Nicholson was drawn to the county board of elections Tuesday morning by the convenience of early voting and the desire to have his voice heard in the local races.

“I think (the extended voting period) is a really good idea, because I may have something I need to do on election day,” Nicholson said after casting his ballot. “Everybody can’t make it to the polls on the big day.”

Nicholson is far from the only person in the county to show up to the polls since early voting began last week.

Thus far, about 2,000 people have voted at the county board of elections on Hancock Street in Rockingham, more than doubling the total number of early ballots for 2006 and tripling the number of voters who turned out early in 2002.

The period ends Saturday at 1 p.m., when the polls will shut down and not reopen until the morning of election day.

“It’s been a good turnout,” County Elections Director Connie Kelly said. “We’ve had a lot of voters.”

Kelly said some unaffiliated voters have been unaware of their options for what ballot they will fill out.

Voters who are unaffiliated with a political party have the option of voting in either of the two major primaries, Democrat or Republican, or may choose a non-partisan ballot which doesn’t count toward either of the major party primaries.

There are two non-partisan ballots available in the county. One contains only the races for Court of Appeals judge, while the other has these races and the race for Richmond County Board of Education.

Registered members of one of the two major political parties may only choose between candidates running in their parties’ primary.

Election 2010 marks Board of Election member Phillip Huber’s second Richmond County election since arriving in the county six years ago, and he said the sheriff’s race has garnered the most attention at the polls.

Early voter and poll worker Anna Gordon agreed. She voted Tuesday, and was campaigning for her candidate for sheriff Wednesday.

“I’ve never seen this many people talking about an election here,” she said. “This is the biggest sheriff’s election I think we’ve ever had with six candidates.”

Not only did she take advantage of early voting, but she also made sure her children did so.

“And their husbands and their friends,” she said. “You’re never promised tomorrow, and I want my vote to count.”

Fellow voter and poll worker Curtis Ingram also said he’s never seen this level of participation in a Richmond County vote.

“Not for a local race,” he said. “The presidential election in 2008 had a lot of people active, but as far as a local election, I’ve never seen it like this and I’ve been doing this for 10 or 15 years.”

Ingram has honed in on his chosen candidate for sheriff, but said he hasn’t seen one of the six pull away from the pack yet.

“To me, it seems like every person has their own candidate,” Ingram said. “It’s kind of split down the middle.”

With the sheriff’s race garnering so much attention, a run-off election is possible.

In the race for sheriff and the race for district attorney, one candidate has to garner 40 percent of the primary vote to avoid a special election on June 22.

If neither candidate earns 40 percent of the vote, the top two vote getters would square off on that day to determine who will represent their party in the November election.

County commission and school board candidates are chosen from the top vote getters, regardless of the percentage of votes they receive.

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