Your Triangle voter guide ahead of the May 17 primaries

North Carolina's primary election is May 17. While early voting is already underway, it's not too late to catch up on what's at stake.

Why it matters: The primary will influence whether North Carolina Republicans can gain a supermajority in the state legislature in November — giving them enough votes to override any of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's vetoes for the remaining two years of his term.

Zoom out: The stakes in Washington D.C. nearly mirror that of North Carolina. Democrats have a slim majority in the U.S. House, and an even smaller majority in the Senate.

• As a battleground state, North Carolina's race to replace retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr will play a role in determining which party controls the Senate and whether President Joe Biden will be able to carry out his agenda for the remainder of his first term.

Here's what else you need to know if you're planning on voting next Tuesday (please, do!).

First things first: The deadline to register to vote online or by mail has already passed, but you can still do it in person during early voting until Saturday, May 14.

• If you're registered unaffiliated, you can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary, but not both.

Key dates:

• May 10: Deadline to request an absentee ballot
• May 14: One-stop early voting ends at 3 pm
• May 17: Primary election day and absentee ballot return deadline
• July 26: Runoff for races where no candidate reaches the minimum threshold
• Nov. 8: Election Day (more on that later)

Find your polling place on the registration lookup portal (under "Your Voting Location"). You can find your sample ballot there, too.

If you plan on voting early, you can vote at any site in the county where you're registered. Full list of locations by county here.

Wake County

• Early voting sites
• Early voting wait times

Durham County

• Early voting site
• Early voting wait times (dashboard under "Early Voting Locator and Wait-Times")

Orange County

• Early voting sites

Find what you need to register at an early voting site here.

You don't need a photo ID to vote, only to register.

Plan ahead: Look up your sample ballot on the state's voter registration lookup portal. North Carolina's State Board of Elections also has 10 tips for Election Day voters.

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