CORRECTION: The map of polling locations included locations that were not open for voting Nov. 4. Elon News Network regrets this error.
Updated as of Nov. 5 at 1:14 a.m.
In the aftermath of the election Burlington elected its first female mayor in Beth Kennett. Former Burlington Mayor Ian Baltutis and former Burlington police chief Jeffrey Smythe secured the two open spots on Burlington’s City Council.
In Elon newcomer Steve Exum and incumbent Randy Orwig secured seats on Elon Town Council. Mayor Emily Sharpe held onto her position after running for reelection unopposed.
Chelsea Dickey, the newcomer Graham mayoral candidate won the position against incumbent Jennifer Talley. Incumbent Bobby Chin and newcomer Jim Young were elected to Graham City Council.
Village of Alamance Mayor Don Tichy will remain as mayor after running unopposed and incumbents Dale Hunt, Gayle Andrews and Ken Cass were elected to the Board of Aldermen.
First-time candidate Lee Walls and incumbents Henry Carrouth and John Andrews have been elected to Swepsonville Town Council.
Bryant Crisp won the position of Gibsonville mayor. Incumbent Paul Dean and newcomer Byron Bell secured positions on Gibsonville’s Board of Aldermen.
Montreena Hadley, Tim Bradley and Jonathan White will rejoin Mebane City Council. Incumbents Jose McBroom and Patricia Jones will rejoin Green Level Town Council. Incumbent Sean Riggan and newcomer Debbie Brown have been elected to Haw River Town Council. Ossipee Town Council members Jim McAdams and Richard Overman were reelected to their positions.
Updated as of Nov. 4 at 8:04 p.m.
Mebane City Council has four candidates running for a spot including incumbent Montreena Hadley.
“We had a lot of new people moved to Mebane, so it was very good dialogue, and just good to see so many people have relocated to Mebane,” Hadley said.
Hadley hopes voters who came out to the polls enjoyed speaking with her and other candidates who were in attendance.
“I just hope that everybody enjoyed coming out and just mingling with us, the candidates that were there at the different polls,” Hadley said.“I hope that they will continue to enjoy living in Mebane, and that they would be pleased with our city council as a whole.”
Jonathan White, who is running for Mebane City Council again, said he was glad to see the large turnout.
“We want the turnout to be as large as possible,” White said. “Spent some time at the different polling stations today, thankful for good weather, and we're able to talk to a number of people.”
White said he was grateful for the people who came out to vote, stressing the importance of these kinds of elections
“I just want to continually remind people that municipal elections are far more important than most people appreciate and so thankful for everyone who did vote,” White said "We encourage others to keep that in mind two years from now these odd year elections are significant, awesome.”
Mebane City Council candidate incumbent Tim Bradley also expressed the importance of voting in elections.
“I just want to thank everybody who voted and continue to remind them how important it is to exercise that right,” Bradley said.
- Alannah Kingsporn
Updated as of Nov. 4 at 7:31 p.m.
Polls have now closed across Alamance County.
Updated as of Nov. 4 at 7:20 p.m.
Wilbur Suggs is one of four candidates running for town council in Swepsonville.. While he said he is unsure of what is to come tonight, he said he is excited about this year's turnout during polling.
“We’ve had what looks like is going to be a record turnout down here in Swepsonville,” Suggs said. We had 90 some before lunch, and 50 or 60 earlier voters.”
– Elissa Leka
Updated as of Nov. 4 at 6:34 p.m.
Mayoral candidate Jennifer Talley is up for reelection and has been at the polls “since the sun came up.” She’s been talking to every voter in sight telling them about her policies and what she has accomplished so far as mayor.
“I love meeting residents and there are a lot of new people moving to Graham, so I always seem to be meeting someone new,” she said.
She also has enjoyed seeing people that she hasn’t seen in a while.
Talley plans to work the polls until her city council meeting today at 6 p.m. and said that she hopes to win this tight race. She said as mayor, for example, she has lowered property taxes and raised business sales.
“I just want to keep doing what we are doing,” Talley said.
Graham city council candidate Bobby Chin is now headed to the 6 p.m. council meeting. Up for reelection, Chin has spent the entire day at the polls.
“I talked to every voter, sharing who I am and what I'm running for, and if they have questions, I answered the questions,” Chin said.
He said he has talked to residents and encouraged them to continue being engaged with the local government.
After the Graham City Council meeting, Chin said he plans to attend a Graham candidate watch party where results probably won’t be in until 8:30. Chin said whatever the results are at the end of this long day, it’s up to the citizens.
“I’ve said to some voters ‘Win or lose, I look at it as a civic duty,’” he said.
-Lilly Molina
Updated as of Nov. 4 at 5:47 p.m.
Patricia Jones is one of four candidates running for a spot on the Green Level Town Council, which currently has two seats up for election. She currently serves as the Mayor Pro Tem for the town, and has been on the council since 2021.
Jones was the highest voted candidate in 2021, earning over 30 more votes than her runner-up, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
“I’m feeling really positive about how things are going today,” Jones said. “I’m here at the polls now."
-Alexander Siegel
Lesley Sanders-Carter, a candidate for Green Level Town Council, is one of four contenders vying for two contested seats on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Sanders-Carter spent the day campaigning outside the polls, greeting voters and handing out flyers.
“It’s going well,” Sanders-Carter said. “There are four candidates running, and four of us out here.”
Sanders-Carter told Elon News Network that turnout has been strong.
-Lily Mosbacher
John Andrews, an incumbent candidate for the Swepsonville Town Council, is one of four contenders on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Andrews told Elon News Network that although he was unable to spend the day in the community, he remains confident about the outcome of tonight’s election.
-Lily Mosbacher
Michael Ratigan, a candidate for Elon Town Council, has been at the polling station at First Baptist Church of Elon all day talking to voters.
As of 4:45 p.m., Ratigan said there have been about 300 voters at the First Baptist Church location so far. Ratigan said it is great to be a part of the Election Day process.
Photo courtesy of Michael Ratigan.
“It’s great to be a part of the election process and be able to hopefully have a voice for our town and be a leader for the town, as well,” Ratigan said.
Ratigan said that he doesn’t know for sure if he’s going to win, but has been impressed by the voter turnout.
“The turnout has been great. I don’t know who people are voting for, I just know that there’s been a lot of excitement with the people who are showing up to vote,” Ratigan said.
-Miles Hayford
Updated as of Nov. 4 at 4:30 p.m.
Byron Bellman, who is running for the Board of Aldermen in Gibsonville said Election Day is a great day. He is excited for everyone to exercise their right to vote and take full advantage of that right.
“Any day in Gibsonville or in Alamance County where we are afforded a day to vote is a great day,” Bellman said. “It is great we have free will to vote based on criteria.”
- John McAllister
Village of Alamance Board of Aldermen candidate Ken Cass also remarked on citizen involvement. He was at the Alamance Civitan Clubhouse, a polling location for the Coble precinct and said voter turnout was more than he anticipated.
Photo courtesy of Ken Cass.
As of 12:20pm, he estimated that he had seen around 60 voters.
Cass was stationed outside the polls to encourage write-in votes for mayoral candidate Justin Brown, a local pastor. He is running against incumbent Don Tichy who has served as mayor of the Village for 10 years.
-Kate Gray
Updated as of Nov. 4 at 3:19 p.m.
Village of Alamance Board of Aldermen candidate Dale Hunt reflected on his campaign with pride and said he feels a sense of calm going into Election Day.
Photo courtesy of Dale Hunt.
“On election day, what you do is look back and naturally wonder if you did everything you could do,” Hunt said. “Feeling like I did do everything I could do, there’s a certain amount of contentment and relaxation about it because now it’s in the voters’ hands. You sit back, you wait for the polls to close and you rest with the decision, whatever it is.”
Shawn Francis, a candidate for the Village of Alamance Board of Aldermen, is keeping a positive attitude on the future of the Village. He expressed confidence in all five candidates for the Board of Aldermen and in the two candidates for mayor.
Photo courtesy of Shawn Francis.
“We are very lucky to have a constituency that cares that much to govern the affairs of their village rather than just be active,” Francis said. “It’s good for people to be involved and no matter who wins, the Village of Alamance will go on just fine.”
Village of Alamance Board of Aldermen candidate Philip Cheap was encouraged by the voter turnout.
Photo courtesy of Philip Cheap.
“Who knows what’s going to happen but people have been pleasant and I’m just encouraged by the number of people from the Village of Alamance that have turned out to vote,” Cheap said. “They obviously care.”
-Kate Gray
The Burlington City Council has two seats up for election this year, with four candidates competing for them. One of those four candidates is former Burlington Mayor Ian Baltutis.
Baltutis served as mayor from 2015 to 2021 for three terms. He was on the 2021 mayoral ballot for a fourth term, but lost to Jim Butler by over 1,200 votes, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
Photo courtesy of Ian Baltutis.
According to his campaign website, although it still references his run for mayor, it mentions the stances he takes on issues pertaining to transportation, affordable housing, and neighborhood safety.
Baltutis has been campaigning with mayoral candidate Beth Kennett.
“We are feeling very good,” said Baltutis. “I’ve been at the polls since 6:30 a.m., and turnout is strong and steady.”
- Alexander Siegel
Updated as of Nov. 4 at 1:12 p.m.
Graham mayoral candidate Chelsea Dickey woke up at 6:30 a.m. today and headed out to the polls. She’s been at the Fellowship Church in Burlington since this morning talking to voters. She’s also been bouncing around other voting precincts.
Though today is election day for her and her husband, she’s treating today as any other day.
“It’s game day,” Dickey said. “We’re just laying it out all on the court and doing the thing.”
However, Dickey said it was exciting to see all the support she has gotten from voters who are happy with the idea of potential new leadership.
Graham city council candidate Jim Young started his day with a cup of coffee from a local Graham coffee shop. Though he has not visited the polls yet, he plans to this afternoon.
“I will not be out there handing cards to people,” Young said. “If someone sees me and they want to come and talk to me before they go in and vote, I’m perfectly happy with that.”
For Young, he said he is not the pressing type. He never liked going to the polls and having candidates try to influence his vote, so he tries to emulate that with his actions. He said that for him a vote is like placing a trust into a candidate.
“If I don't win, my life will still go on tomorrow, I'll still have my family, I'll still have my business, I'll still care about Graham just as much,” Young said.
- Lilly Molina
Updated as of Nov. 4 at 12:18 p.m.
Jeffrey Smythe is running for a position on Burlington’s City Council for the first time and expressed excitement about crossing the finish line
“It's a great opportunity,” Smythe said. “It's my first time to run for office, and it's really been a great journey, and I hope we're successful.”
Smythe also said he was grateful for the amount of support he received from who he has worked with.
Photo courtesy of Jeffery Smythe.
“I'm just humbled by the support of the folks that we're working with that are excited to help make Burlington a safe and livable city for everybody.”
Smythe said he looks forward to working with the community
“I'm just really looking forward to continue to talk with folks and express my appreciation of the volunteers that are so active with us.”
Donna Vanhook will be running for Burlington City Council for fourth time now but that doesn’t make it any less exciting or exhausting, she said.
“I've been on the ballot for four straight years, so it's nothing new to me,” Vanhook said. “There's an excitement, but it can be exhausting as the polls begin to close. So I feel good about being out here today. ”
-Alannah Klingsporn
Updated as of Nov. 4 at 9:53 a.m.
According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, “Any voter in line at their assigned polling place at 7:30 p.m. will be able to vote,” and “a voter must live in that municipality for at least 30 days before Election Day.”
One of the polling locations open today is the North Boone precinct at the First Baptist Church of Elon. Mayor of Elon Emily Sharpe was stationed outside of the church welcoming voters along with other candidates. Sharpe is running for mayor unopposed. She said there are very few times that candidates can easily interact with voters, and for voters to easily interact with who they're voting for.
“It's a great opportunity to get a few hundred of your constituents in one place throughout the day,” Sharpe said.
Inside the church, decked out with multiple voter buttons and an election apron, was Chips Chapman, chief judge at the North Boone precinct. He said he has been working at the polls since 2004, as a worker, on the machines, as a judge and currently, chief judge. According to the North Carolina General Assembly, chief judges oversee elections in their precincts fairly.
“I find it gratifying that I can help people go through the process of voting,” Chapman said.
“It's a good way to give back to the community and to the county and make sure that elections are managed properly.”
Chapman said he wants to make sure everyone has a chance to vote.
“Regardless of their party affiliation, they have the chance to get their voice heard and be able to have their say in how the local and state and national offices are managed,” Chapman said.
Elon resident Willie Fisher voted bright and early around 8 a.m. He said he and his wife usually try to vote first thing in the morning.
“You kind of get into the spirit of it,” Fisher said. “Maybe you beat the rush.”
Fisher said it is an honor to be able to vote in municipal elections.
“It's really important to show up,” Fisher said. “This stuff really matters. This is our hometown stuff.”
-Anjolina Fantaroni
Polls across Alamance County opened at 6:30 a.m. Nov. 4 for municipal elections. Ten elections will be held in Alamance County for mayoral, city council and aldermen positions, across Elon, Burlington, Gibsonville, Graham, Green Level, Haw River, Mebane, Ossipee, Swepsonville and the Village of Alamance.
Forty-two candidates are running for positions across the county, with 27 positions up for grabs.
In Elon, Mayor Emily Sharpe is up for reelection and is facing no opposition. There are currently two Elon Town Council seats up for election with incumbent Randy Orwig seeking reelection and Michael Ratigan and Steve Exum running for the first time.
Mebane has three city council seats up for grabs with incumbents Jonathan White, Montreena Hadley and Tim Bradley all running for reelection.
Burlington is shaping up to be one of the most competitive races in this election with four candidates vying for one open city council seat. In addition to Burlington’s open city council seat, the position of mayor will be open with Ronnie Wall and Beth Kennett seeking to secure the role for the first time.
Graham has two city council seats available for this election as well as current Graham Mayor Jennifer Talley running for reelection against Chelsea Dickey.
Gibsonville has two candidates vying for the two open Board of Aldermen seats on the ballot as well as two candidates running for mayor.
Haw River, Green Level and Ossipee each have two town council seats on their respective ballots. Haw River and Ossipee each have two candidates running for the open seats. Green Level has four candidates running for their two open town council seats
The Village of Alamance has five candidates looking to fill the three open Board of Aldermen seats. Current Mayor Don Tichy is running for reelection unopposed.
Swepsonville has three open town council seats on the ballot with all three incumbents running for reelection.
Early voting for municipal elections kicked off on Oct. 16 with 3,251 ballots turned in between Oct. 16 and Nov. 1. Early voting numbers have also increased throughout the previous municipal elections with ballots cast 1,549 in 2023 and 2,353 in 2021.
Polls will be opened until 7:30 p.m.
- Nia Bedard