Photo courtesy: Greene County Board of Elections Facebook page

SNOW HILL — There has been a higher voter turnout in the midseason election than four years ago in Greene County.

According to Greene County Director of Elections Trey Cash, more residents have been using early voting as Election Day approaches. According to carolinaelections.com, 2,787 voters have cast ballots, including 2,617 through the one-stop method.

“We have a little over 11,500 registered voters and we’ve already beat out the 2014 midterms,” Cash said. “Our people are more aware about what’s going on and the Board of Elections extended our hours since 2014. We’ve had early voting from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., expanding our times by 20 to 30 hours more. Our poll workers have also done a great job making sure there were no wait times.”

There are several significant races in Greene County in 2018, with the sheriff’s race being one of them. Incumbent Lemmie Smith has held the position for 20 years and said he would continue to be a strong advocate for the area.

“If reelected as sheriff, I assure you the door to my office and my home will continue to be open,” Smith said. “Since being elected in 1998, I have worked dearly to make Greene County a safe place to live and will look to increase (aid) through grants at no cost to the taxpayers.”

The challenger, Jason Tyndall, has 15 years of experience — 10 as a supervisor.

“I want to know that my home is safe, that my family is safe and that your family is safe,” Tyndall said. “As sheriff, I would work with the county commissioners to make sure the deputies here have the equipment they need to do their job safely (along with) community leaders.”

The race for the District 3 seat for the Greene County Board of Commissioners is between candidates who battled in May. Natasha Sutton won the Democratic primary in May over incumbent Jerry Jones, and will look to do the same Tuesday.

“I love Greene County, I love people and I love the citizens,” Sutton said. “The employees are what make this county (and) we can make a difference here.”

Jones lost the primary by 19 votes but was able to run against Sutton again as a candidate for the Constitution party.

“During my tenure as commissioner over the past 10 years, the community government has increased our county fund balance and we’ve been able to keep our tax rate the same,” he said.

There is another local race being contested — for Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor. Donald Beaman and Jack Edmondson are the incumbents with Derek Burress looking to take one of the two seats.