Early voting begins in local elections

Photo: Five cities and school districts in east and south Orange County are holding May 4 elections. Early voting for all except West Orange is being held at the Orange Public Library and two other locations. RECORD Photo: Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers

For The Record

Early voting for the May 4 local elections continues through Tuesday, April 30, primarily at three sites.

Voters in all but one of the Orange County races – for school districts or city councils – may vote in any of those three: Orange Public Library, 220 N. 5^th St.; Bridge City Administration Building, 1031 W. Roundbunch Road; and Raymond Gould Community Center, 385 Claiborne Road in Vidor.

Voters in the West Orange council election must vote early at the City of West Orange City Hall, 2700 Western Ave.

Approximately 75 percent of the people who voted in last May’s local election voted early.

Early voting times are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 24 through Monday, April 29 at the first three locations, with 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. hours on Tuesday, April 30.

Early voting in West Orange is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 24 through Monday, April 29 and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 30.

On Election Day, Saturday, May 4, all Bridge City voting will be at the BCISD Administration Building, 1031 W. Roundbunch Road.

Voters in the Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD election boxes 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9 vote at Little Cypress Intermediate, 2300 Allie Payne Road; and those in boxes 15, 16, 31 and 32 vote at Mauriceville Middle School, 19952 FM 1130.

West Orange-Cove CISD has voting at the Administration Building, 902 W. Park Ave., for boxes 1 and 2; at North Early Learning, 801 Cordrey, for boxes 3, 4 and 5; at the Salvation Army, 1950 N. MLK Dr. for boxes 8, 13, 14, 15; and at West Orange City Hall, 2700 Western Ave. for boxes 11, 12 and 24.

The City of Orange council races will vote at the Salvation Army, 1950 N. MLK Drive for District 1; Little Cypress Intermediate, 2300 Allie Payne for District 2; North Early Learning Center, 801 Cordrey for District 3; and at WOCCISD Administration Building, 902 W. Park Ave, for District 4.

Many Orange County seats up for election drew but one filer, often the incumbent.

The candidates who drew opposition for city council races are in Orange, where three people – incumbent Annette Pernell and Mary McKenna and Alan E. Mesecher -- seek the District 2 single-member seat, while incumbent Bill Mello drew three opponents for the At-Large Place 5 seat:

David C. Bailey, Caroline Mazzola Hennigan and Charles Thomas.

In West Orange, three are running for two at-large places: incumbents Randy Branch and Patty Cook and Brent Dearing. The top two vote-getters are seated.

An even more crowded race is for the West Orange-Cove school district, where all seats are at-large. Incumbents

Demetrius Hunter and Linda Platt-Robinson are challenged by Gina Simar, Kianna Edwards-Brooks and Russell Holt.

Incumbent Jerry McInnis faces Cory L. Mitchell for Bridge City ISD Place 4; and Josh Fisher and Chris Riedel face off for Position 6 on the LCMCISD board.

Also on the ballot in Bridge City is a $46.1 bond issue that will go mostly toward building a new middle school.