The 2018 election cycle kicks into gear next week across the Roanoke-Chowan area and all of North Carolina.

Filing for local and state district level seats opens at 12 noon on Monday, Feb. 12 and closes at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Those wishing file can do so at the board of elections office in their county of residence. There are filing fees in some cases.

If more than one candidate (per political party) files for the open offices, they will first be involved in a Primary Election, scheduled for May 8. Those winners (per political party) will advance to the General Election on Nov. 6.

Five countywide offices are up for election in Bertie County.

“Filing may be done in person, or it can be done by mail as long as it is notarized and reaches our office by the noon Feb. 28 deadline,” said Bertie County Board of Elections Director Sheila Holloman from the Board’s office in Windsor.

Three Bertie County Commissioner seats are up for election: District-2 (Midway/Merry Hill), with the seat currently held by Stewart White; District 3 (Colerain 1&2), now held by Tammy Lee; and District 5 (Windsor 2), held by current Commission chairwoman Ernestine Byrd Bazemore.

The office of Sheriff of Bertie County, currently held by John Holley, is up for election. Holley was elected to his first full term in 2014 and he has stated he will be seeking another term.

2014 was also when Vasti Davis ran for her first full term as Bertie County Clerk of Superior Court after succeeding the retiring John Tyler 11 months earlier. The Clerk’s position is the final county office up for election in 2018.

The same types of political offices are also open in Hertford County.

There are two seats on the county’s Board of Commissioners that are part of the 2018 election cycle. Those seats are currently held by Johnnie Ray Farmer and current Commission chairman Curtis Freeman. Farmer, who by the end of his current term in December will have 18 years under his belt as a commissioner, announced last year that he would not seek reelection.

Other open seats in Hertford County for the election cycle include those currently held by Sheriff Dexter Hayes, and Shirley Johnson, the Clerk of Court.

Filing for the open seats on the Hertford County Board of Education will take place in July.

Several different seats across Northampton County will be up for election this year.

Three Board of Commissioner seats open up in November. These positions are currently held by Chester Deloatch (District 3), Robert Carter (District 4), and Fannie Greene (District 5).

The Board of Education will also have three seats in the election. Lucy Edwards, Rhonda Taylor, and Kelvin Edwards currently fill those positions on the Board.

Other county races include Sheriff and Clerk of Court. These positions are respectively held now by incumbents Jack Smith and Laquitta Green-Cooper.

Those wishing to seek any of the Northampton County seats can file at the Board of Elections Office, located at 9495 NC Hwy 305, Jackson. The office is open from 8:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and is closed for lunch between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.

In Gates County, three commissioner seats are up for grabs: Gatesville District (currently held by Jack Owens), Eure District (Billy Felton), and Gates District (Ray Freeman III).

The offices of Gates County Sheriff, now occupied by Interim Sheriff Robert Jordan, and Clerk of Court (Nell Wiggins) are also open during the 2018 election cycle.

Likewise for three seats on the Gates County Board of Education: Gatesville District (currently held by Dr. Daniel Dickerson); Gates District (Glendale Boone); and Hobbsville District (Leslie Byrum).

The Gates County Board of Elections office (located on Court Street in Gatesville) is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.

At the state district level, the office of District 6 Attorney is open. That office is currently held by Valerie Asbell.

Other state district offices on the local 2018 election cycle are:

5^th District NC House of Representatives (newly aligned to include all of Hertford, Gates and Pasquotank counties; currently held by Howard Hunter III);

1^st District NC House of Representatives (a new alignment that includes Bertie, Chowan, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington counties; currently held by Bob Steinburg);

27^th District NC House of Representatives (Northampton and Halifax counties; currently held by Michael Wray);

3^rd District NC Senate (newly aligned to include Bertie, Northampton, Vance, Warren, Martin, and Beaufort counties; currently held by Erica Smith-Ingram); and

1^st District NC Senate (newly aligned to include Hertford, Gates, Chowan, Perquimans, Pasquotank, Camden, Currituck, Washington, Tyrrell, Dare and Hyde counties). This particular combined district is entirely new, meaning the person elected in November will be the first to serve.

Also on the 2018 election cycle is the U.S. House of Representatives (First District); currently held by Rep. G.K. Butterfield.

NOTE: After an order from the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued Friday (Feb. 9), candidates for N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals will not file for election during the February filing period. Under the order, primaries will not be held for judicial offices in 2018.

Barring any further action by the courts, those candidates will file during a special judicial filing period June 18-29. District Court and Superior Court candidates also will file in June.

Otherwise, all other candidates who wish to file for any office during the Feb. 12-28 filing period are encouraged to review the appropriate Fact Sheet available on the “Candidate Filing” page of the State Board’s website. The State Board’s “Candidate’s Guide to Elections in North Carolina” is a valuable resource for all candidates.

Once a candidate has filed, the deadline to withdraw a notice of candidacy is Friday, Feb. 23. The filing fee is fully refundable if withdrawal occurs before the deadline.