Election Day is Tuesday. What Mecklenburg voters should know before polls close

Mecklenburg County voters on Tuesday will decide a series of local elections and the fate of a potentially transformational transportation tax referendum.

Election Day is Tuesday, with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at locations across the county.

Voters will have a mix of municipal and school board races as well as a transportation tax referendum on ballots. What appears on a voter’s ballot depends on where he or she lives.

By the end of early voting on Saturday, 63,427 people cast ballots. That appears to be an early voting record for a municipal or odd-year election, according to Mecklenburg County data. An additional 1,224 mail-in ballots have been approved.

In 2023, the most recent municipal election, a total of 39,432 people cast ballots during early voting, with an additional 1,226 approved mail-in ballots. Mecklenburg County data show that was higher than prior odd-year elections. But it was eclipsed by the even-year elections before and after. With presidential, U.S. Senate, congressional, gubernatorial and statewide races, even year elections produce much higher voter turnout than ones only featuring local contests.

The top performing early voting site was the South Park Library, which saw 1,500 more ballots cast than any other voting site. The second- and third-busiest sites were the South County Library and Matthews Library, respectively.

Friday was the busiest day of early voting, with 10,747 ballots cast. Saturday was another day with more than 10,000 ballots cast.

It’s unclear whether early voting numbers will produce a municipal election turnout record. To beat 2023’s turnout, about the same number of voters would need to cast ballots on Election Day as during early voting.

Here are other things to know before Election Day:

What’s on the ballot

While races on ballots will vary widely, some of the key elections include:

• A referendum that asks people to vote “for” or “against” the following: One percent (1%) local sales and use taxes, in addition to the current local sales and use taxes, to be used only for roadway systems and public transportation systems. The tax increase will bring Mecklenburg County’s sales tax to 8.25%. Of the more than $19 billion it’s expected to generate in the next 30 years, 40% will go to trains, 20% will go to buses and 40% will be split between Charlotte and local towns to use on road improvements.
• Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles faces a challenge from Republican Terrie Donovan and Libertarian Rob Yates. She’s favored to win, and would claim sole possession of the second-longest serving mayor in Charlotte’s history if so. Republican Pat McCrory is Charlotte’s longest serving mayor.
• In the Charlotte City Council’s District 6, Republican Krista Bokhari faces Democrat Kimberly Owens. Bokhari is married to Tariq Bokhari, who was the District 6 representative until resigning earlier this year for a short-lived job in the Trump administration. The district is shaped like a triangle in south Charlotte and includes neighborhoods such as Eastover, Myers Park, South Park, Providence and Carmel.
• Two incumbents — west Charlotte’s Thelma Byers-Bailey and Summer Nunn, whose district snakes along the county’s southern border — chose not to run for reelection to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education. That guarantees at least two new members of the board. Dee Rankin in District 3, which covers University City and parts of north and east Charlotte, is the only incumbent without competition.
• Voters in Huntersville will see two familiar faces back on the ballot for mayor — incumbent Christy Clark and Derek Partee. They were two of the three candidates who battled in the 2023 mayor’s race. The mayor and town board races are officially nonpartisan, but a group of Republicans also have united to try and oust Democrat commissioners in their “No More Than 4” slate.
• Cornelius also gets a mayoral rematch with incumbent Woody Washam facing Denis Bilodeau again as well as a third challenger, Kenny Campbell. In 2023, Washam won by just five votes.
• Matthews voters will see a major shake-up on their town board this year. All six commissioner seats are on the ballot, and at least three will be filled by newcomers.

For The Charlotte Observer’s full guide to elections on the ballot, go to charlotteobserver.com/voter-guide.

How do I know what’s on my ballot?

To be eligible to vote in any North Carolina municipal election, a voter must live within the city or town limits for at least 30 days before Election Day. With the voter search tool on the State Board of Elections website, people can see what’s on their ballot and which districts they live in under the “YOUR JURISDICTIONS” tab.

But all voters who live in Mecklenburg County will have a school board district election and transportation tax referendum on their ballots. When there’s only one person on the ballot, voters are still able to write in a candidate.

Voters can find their sample ballot, designated district, current elected officials and voting location by filling out their address on the county Board of Elections website at apps.meckboe.org/addressSearch_New.aspx.

What if I’m not registered to vote?

People who are not registered to vote are not eligible to cast a ballot on Election Day.

North Carolina allows same-day registration only during early voting, and Saturday was the last day of early voting.

Voter ID

Voters must bring photo ID to the polls, but “all voters will be allowed to vote with or without photo ID,” according to the NCSBE Voter ID website. Voters who don’t show an ID will need to fill out an exception form. Details regarding acceptable forms of ID including student and government employee IDs can be found on ncsbe.gov/voting/voter-id#acceptable.

Results and information

For results on election night and complete coverage, visit charlotteobserver.com.

For questions about voting on Tuesday, contact the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections at 704-336-2133 or Vote@MeckNC.gov. The Board of Elections is located at 741 Kenilworth Ave., Suite 202.

This story was originally published November 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM.