It was clear from the 2013 election results in Franklin that voters wanted change. The 2015 Franklin election will determine whether voters want to continue in the direction the mayor and board of aldermen have been taking the town.

There’s a unifying theme among candidates in the Waynesville town board election: “maybe-ism.”

After two years of getting a feel for Canton politics, two Canton aldermen hope to continue their work for another four years.

The political dynamics in Maggie Valley have definitely changed in the last two years.

As results poured in from the Primary Election for an open chief’s seat, Patrick Lambert’s campaign came out a clear winner, taking 1,751 of 2,964 votes in the unofficial tally — 59.1 percent in a spread of five candidates.

By Katie Reeder • SMN Intern 

Some opponents of North Carolina’s new voting law claim it negatively impacts college students because of provisions that cut the early voting period and do not allow students to use their campus photo identification cards as a valid form of identification to vote. Students at Western Carolina University were asked their thoughts on the new law.

By Katie Reeder • SMN Intern 

It may be too late to change North Carolina’s new voting laws, but it’s not too late to have a say in how those laws are going to be implemented.

SEE ALSO:
• Be prepared at the polls
• WCU students react to NC voting law changes

Even though members of local NAACP chapters are not happy with North Carolina’s new voting laws pushed through by a Republican-led General Assembly in 2013, they now want to focus on how those laws may be implemented.

The days of simply walking into a polling place and casting a ballot are over.

It’s election season in Cherokee, and with the long-time chief Michell Hicks opting not to seek re-election, five candidates are vying for the tribe’s top office.

Voters could see more Ds and Rs on their election ballot in 2016 if Republicans push through legislation to make local school board and statewide judicial races partisan.