February 17, 2026
Early voting for the primary started on February 12 and runs through February 28. Primary election day is March 3. The most important action we can take as U S Citizens is to VOTE! We are also still closely watching the newest version of the SAVE Act, which passed the House last week.
NEWS NOTE: Go check out the brand new ICCV website at https://indivisibleccv.org and let us know what you think! Share widely!
WHAT TO DO
Make sure your voter registration is up to date. You can check at either the State or County Board of Elections (BOE) website. If you are not registered, you can do so during the early voting period, but you will not be able to register on Election Day. (See HOW TO DO IT below).
Find your sample ballot on the BOE site. If registered as either Democrat or Republican, you will have a ballot with only those races. If registered as unaffiliated, you will have the option to choose which ballot you will vote, but you cannot vote both or “mix and match.”
Research the candidates on your ballot and make an informed decision. Do this for ALL the races, as those further down the ballot can have important effects on our daily lives.
Then go to the polls and VOTE! (You can also offer rides to friends and family who may need transportation.) Remember to take your photo ID.
Continue calling your Senators to tell them to vote NO on the SAVE America Act. Feel free to also call your congressperson to express your displeasure that the House passed this horrific bill.
If you recently received a letter from the BOE that expressed concerns about your registration, do not panic. See below, HOW TO DO IT.
HOW TO DO IT
If you haven’t already done so, check your registration and download your sample ballot at either https://www.catawbacountync.gov/county-services/elections/ or at https://www.ncsbe.gov/
To get more information about the candidates, go to https://www.vote411.org where you can enter your home address to find the races and links to information about the candidates.
2026 Primary - Early Voting Schedule February 12 – 28, 2026
Mondays – Fridays 8 am – 7:30 pm
Saturdays 8am – 3pm
Sundays 1pm – 5pm
Locations
Newton Main Library 115 West C St Newton
Highland Recreation Center 1451 8th St Dr NE Hickory
Southwest Library (Mtn View) 2944 S Hwy 127 Hickory
Conover Station 403 Conover Station SE Conover
Sherrills Ford Terrell Library 9154 Sherrills Ford Road Terrell
Election Day, Tuesday, March 3, 2026
To vote on election day, you will be required to vote at your precinct location. If you don’t know where this is, the information is available on the BOE website when you search your registration. Polls will be open from 6:30 am until 7:30 pm.
Please feel free to share this information with your family and friends and encourage them to make a plan for voting as well.
If you recently received a letter from the Board of Elections about your voter registration, you are still able to vote a regular ballot. Reportedly, some of these issues are merely typographical type errors. Read more at: https://www.ncsbe.gov/news/press-releases/2026/02/03/state-board-sends-letters-voters-unvalidated-identification-numbers
We understand that this is separate from the Registration Repair Project which identified voters who did not have either a NC driver’s license or ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security number in the voter registration database. This effort from 2025 identified 88,000 individuals. Letters were sent out in August. As of this writing, there are still over 70,000 individuals on this list, which is updated daily. Over 1300 are listed in Catawba County. These voters may have to vote a provisional ballot unless they provide the required information prior to voting. https://dl.ncsbe.gov/RegistrationRepair/index.html
When calling your representatives about the SAVE America act, you can find information and scripts at https://5calls.org/issue/save-act-voter-suppression/
- Senator Thom Tillis: (202) 224-6342
- Senator Ted Budd: (202) 224-3154
- Representative Pat Harrigan: (202) 225-2576
- Representative Virginia Foxx: (202) 225-2071
To find and contact your state legislators, go to
https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators
Enter your home address to link to contacts for your NC Senator and Representative.
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
Every vote matters. In small, local elections, a single vote can make the difference. Staying informed and participating in the electoral process is one of the most important actions we can take. Protecting free and fair elections is fundamental to keeping our democracy.
For information about the SAVE America Act, read the following from Campaign Legal
https://campaignlegal.org/update/what-you-need-know-about-save-act
and this from the Brennan Center
Thank you for everything you do to protect our democracy!
ICCV Legislative Committee
“With Liberty and Justice for ALL”