Early Voting in Hope Mills will kick off on Oct. 14 and run through Oct. 30. as residents of the town start voting for their next Mayor and five Town Commissioners. The winners of the election will serve for the next two years.

The candidates for Mayor are Jessie Bellflowers, a current commissioner and military veteran, and Jackie Warner, the current Mayor. Warner has served as Mayor for the past ten years. Bellflowers has been a town commissioner for the past four years.

Up & Coming Weekly will conduct a joint Q&A session with the two candidates. That interview will be published in the Oct. 27 edition.

There are seven people running for Town Commissioner. Only five will be voted in. The candidates are: Sally Bailey, Jerry Legge, Bryan Marley, Kenjuana McCray, Grilley Mitchell, Jim Morris and Joanne Scarola.

No photo identification is needed to vote unless you are a newly registered voter.

If you want to register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day, you will need to bring an ID with your name and your current address. The document may be a digital image on your cell phone.

When entering the polling location, you will be asked to state your name and your address.

Curbside voting will be available at all voting sites for those who cannot enter the polling location due to age or physical disability.

Voting sites have designated parking indicating curbside voting and will have an alert system that will notify the election officials. An election official will come to the vehicle to obtain the voter’s name and address. Before a ballot is issued, the voter must swear an oath affirming his or her qualification to use curbside voting.

During early voting, voters can go to the Cumberland County Board of Elections at 227 Fountainhead Lane in Fayetteville to cast their ballots. The poll is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday.

On Oct. 30, the poll is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

On Election Day, Nov. 2, there will be six polling locations which will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

For those who live in the Cumberland 1A, 03 and 04 precincts, the polling location is E. Melvin Honeycutt Elementary School.

For those who live in the Hope Mills 1A precinct, the polling location is at the Hope Mills Recreation Center.

For those who live in Hope Mills 1A or Hope Mills 1B precincts, the polling location will be the Cotton Fire Department.

For those who live in the Hope Mills 3, Pearces Mill 2A and Pearces Mill 2B precincts, the polling location will be at the Hope Mills Middle School.

For those who live in the Hope Mills 4 precinct, the polling location will be at C. Wayne Collier Elementary School.

For those who live in the Stoney Point 1 or Stoney Point 2 precincts, the polling locations will be at the Lighthouse Baptist Church.

If you don’t know your precinct, look it up at www.cumberlandcountync.gov/departments/election-group/elections/resources/polling-sites or call the elections office at 910-678-7733.

The last day to hand deliver an absentee ballot will be Nov. 2 at 5 p.m. at the Board of Elections office. Absentee ballots that will be sent by mail must be postmarked by Nov. 2 and the Board of Elections must receive it no later than Nov. 5.