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North Iredell early voters cast their ballots
Bruce Matlock photo
His mind was made up and his ballot was cast on Union Grove’s first day of early voting. This Iredell County voter was in and out of the polling place in about 15 minutes Monday.
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Published: October 28, 2008
One-stop early voting started Monday in northern Iredell County and from what the locals are saying, it seems to be John McCain territory.
The voting was steady at the Union Grove Volunteer Fire Department, and although the survey was largely anecdotal, the consensus leaned heavily on the side of the Republican candidates in the race.
"I think McCain's got more knowledge than Obama," said Trudy Cass who, along with her husband, Steve, voted early for the first time. "A lot of people I know are Democrats, but they are not going to vote that way."
Harmony resident Frank Handy said he did not agree with what he believed to be Obama's position on the abortion issue.
"Here in the Bible Belt, I can't believe anyone would vote for Obama," Handy said. "No one I know is for Obama. But it's hard to tell what goes on behind closed doors."
When asked if she would vote for McCain, Connie Rash said, "Yes, sir."
Rash added that she had voted for George W. Bush as well.
"I don't think Bush did all that bad," she said. "But he didn't do all that good either."
When asked if anyone in the line of 10 people planned on voting for Democrats, only Marcus Ireland admitted he would.
"I'm big-time Obama," said Ireland, 24. "It's time for a change and Obama's the best person to make that happen."
Cheria Duncan was not being evasive when she declined to say who she would vote for in the following few minutes. She said she had not yet made up her mind.
"I won't know until it's actually time to mark that ballot," she said. "It's an emotional decision for me. If I was just voting for myself, my choice would be different. But you want to do what's best for the majority."
Duncan, 52, said this election period has been a difficult time for her.
"I have really struggled with this, much more than I have with any election," she said. "And I have never missed an election."
Poll workers Martha Brotherton and Barbara Reavis said early voting was steady throughout the day, as a total of 323 people voted at the Union Grove location.
Also Monday, the early voting site at the Lake Norman Fire Department opened. About 962 people voted there.
The total ballots cast in Iredell County's four locations Monday was 4,066.
With a week left until the Nov. 4 general election, 18,926 Iredell County residents — about one-fifth of the county's total registered voters — have voted during the early-voting period.
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