Free Republic

More Republicans than Democrats have voted early in Mecklenburg County, a potentially crucial indicator for Tuesday's election. Election Day is still three days away, but more than 18,000 people have already voted. In the past two major elections in Mecklenburg, the party that dominated early voting controlled the board of county commissioners and chalked up victories in other major races. Through Wednesday, registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats, 43.2 percent to 39.1 percent, according to an Observer analysis of in-person early voting. The strong Republican turnout bucks national predictions of Democratic success, and could leave power over property taxes, parks and school...

Vote audit throws results into limbo (NC) Samuelson's in, Rembert's out ... for now RICHARD RUBIN AND CARRIE LEVINE Staff Writers A frenzied retallying of early-voting ballots Thursday edged Democrat Wilhelmenia Rembert out of a Mecklenburg County commissioners seat and added Republican Ruth Samuelson to the board -- for now. After almost 12 hours of checking votes, election officials released new, unofficial results showing three candidates within 91 votes of each other. That's 0.01 percent of all votes cast in the county race. Election officials still can't explain the foul-up. More than 3,200 votes were removed from results released Tuesday...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Council approves $52.5 million for 16 cars The Charlotte City Council ordered its first batch of light-rail trains Monday night, authorizing $52.5 million for 16 cars. Council members pitched their 10-1 vote as a decision that will limit future congestion and provide a much-needed alternative to automobiles. "This is an investment for a generation," said GOP council member Pat Mumford, who chairs the council's transportation committee. "And we need to prepare today because it will never be a better time than today." The light-rail cars will be built by Siemens Transportation...