Excerpt from AP this am.-- [Good for Bob Harris]
There was robust turnout in Durham County, Bartlett said, where the race for district attorney was enlivened by debate over incumbent Mike Nifong's prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players on rape and kidnapping charges. Nifong sought a four-year term against two challengers.
Nifong had a brief run-in at the polling place with Bob Harris, the play-by-play voice of the Blue Devils, when the prosecutor attempted to shake his hand. The radio announcer jumped into his car and was visibly upset when he noticed a television cameraman filming the exchange. He called county sheriff's deputies, who took no action after they arrived.
"The majority have been very friendly. There have been a few people who have not," a cheerful Nifong said later as he greeted voters in the parking lot of Temple Baptist Church. "There was one guy who came by with a lacrosse T-shirt. I didn't talk to him. I might have prejudged him . I'm not sure."
As he waved at a passing car, he noted with a grin: "That guy just looked at me and shook his head."
Nifong has insisted that the election should not be a referendum on the Duke case. But some voters made it clear that it was.
John Straffin, an information technology analyst at Duke, voted for Steve Monks, a private attorney and fellow Republican who is running a write-in campaign.
"It was just looking at what each person had to offer and what each person was standing for, and not him," Straffin said, nodding at Nifong nearby.
A single polling place in Durham County opened about an hour late, and officials decided to keep that station open until 8:30 p.m. to make up for the lost time. All other polling places in Durham will close on time at 7:30 p.m., but results from the county won't be released until after 8:30 p.m.
http://www.wral.com/apncnews/10262708/detail.html
Keyholder Holds Up Voting For Nearly An Hour In Durham, POSTED: 10:37 am EST November 7, 2006
DURHAM, N.C. -- A polling place at a church in Durham County opened 50 minutes late because the person with the key to the building didn't show up on time, elections officials said Tuesday.
The Durham County Board of Elections said Precinct 23, which was supposed to have opened at 6:30 a.m., would remain open an hour after other polls in the state closed at 7:30 p.m. to make up for the late start. Results from the entire county will be held until 8:31 p.m., when all precincts are closed.
County elections director Michael Ashe said about 100 voters were waiting when the building was finally unlocked. He said the delay was "human error."
"(The) man from the church with the key was late," Ashe said.
Twenty of the waiting voters went to the county's Board of Elections office to cast ballots, which would be taken to the precinct and tabulated there, he said.
There was robust turnout Tuesday morning in Durham County, where the race for district attorney was enlivened by debate over incumbent Mike Nifong's prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players on rape and kidnapping charges. Nifong sought a four-year term against two challengers.
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/10263411/detail.html