More than 63,000 Mecklenburg County voters cast early ballots ahead of election day Tuesday. Election officials say that’s up about 50% compared to the municipal election in 2023. The transportation tax referendum could be driving more people to the polls. While there is only one hotly contested Charlotte City Council race on the ballot, all of Mecklenburg County is voting on whether to increase the sales tax by one percentage point, to 8.25 percent. That money will pay for a multi-billion dollar transportation plan. Polls will be open from 6:30 am to 7:30 pm on Tuesday. The Charlotte Area Transit System will provide fare-free rides on all CATS services to voting locations.
Woody is a Charlotte native who came to WFAE from the world of NASCAR where he was host of NASCAR Today for MRN Radio as well as a pit reporter, turn announcer and host of the NASCAR Live pre race show for Cup Series races. Before that, he was a news anchor at WBT radio in Charlotte, a traffic reporter, editor of The Charlotte Observer’s University City Magazine, News/Sports Director at WEGO-AM in Concord and a Swiss Army knife in local cable television. His first job after graduating from Appalachian State University was news reporter at The Daily Independent in Kannapolis. Along the way he’s covered everything from murder trials and a national political convention to high school sports and minor league baseball.