Local Democrats discussed election strategy on Thursday.

"We have really got to go out into the communities," party chairwoman Vancine Sturdivant said.

She emphasized the party's message, that the election's results could hurt President Barack Obama's ability to implement his agenda.

The party will send out a newsletter to every church in the county on the importance of early voting.

"There are going to be more straight Republican ballots than we've seen in a long time," N.C. Representative Pryor Gibson said.

Everyone was concerned about explaining the new Instant Runoff Voting method that will be used in one judicial race. The seat on the N.C. Court of Appeals vacated by Judge James Wynn will be decided with this new method. There are 13 candidates vying for the seat.

The General Assembly outlined the rules of instant runoff voting.

"Under 'instant runoff voting,' voters rank up to three of the candidates by order of preference, first, second, or third. If the candidate with the greatest number of first choice votes receives more than 50 percent of the first choice votes, that candidate wins. If no candidate receives that minimum number, the two candidates with the greatest number of first choice votes advance to a second round of counting. In this round, each ballot counts as a vote for whichever of the two final candidates is ranked highest by the voter. The candidate with the most votes in the second round wins the election."

A sample ballot showed three columns, one for each choice by a voter. Voters would still fill in an oval as they would on the rest of the ballot.

Officials discussed how they would organize their call lists and the instructions workers would receive.

"You get a list, you turn it back in," vice chairman Lonnie Baucom said. "You don't try to keep working it."

Sturdivant agreed to meet workers each afternoon at the Hampton B. Allen Library to receive lists from workers who have made their calls.