Early voting opens today at 9 a.m. for people wishing to cast ballots in the primary for the City Council’s Ward 1 and Ward 2 seats.

The primary will end Oct. 6 and winnow the field in each race down to two candidates in preparation for the Nov. 3 general election.

The Durham County Board of Elections is only operating one early voting site, at its headquarters at 706 W. Corporation St. near the Durham Athletic Park.

The following are the candidates for Ward 2.

Howard Clement

- Employment: Retired attorney

- Experience: City Council member since 1983

- Positions: Supports passage of a half-cent local option sales tax for transit; considers support for mass transit improvements “imperative.”

Favors tighter regulation of development in the Jordan Lake watershed to mitigate pollution; opposes annexation of Southern Durham Development Inc.’s parcel along N.C. 751 while litigation between the company and Durham County is ongoing.

Matt Drew

- Employment: IT consultant

- Experience: First try for elective office

- Positions: Opposes a half-cent local option sales tax for transit; favors requiring the Durham Area Transit Authority to be financially self-sufficient.

Favors stricter watershed laws around Jordan Lake; believes zoning buffers like that affecting Southern Durham Development Inc. can’t “be left to surveys that have a clear conflict of interest” and that the city and county should do their own.

Sandra Howell

- Employment: Full-time student, N.C. Central University

- Experience: First try for elective office

- Positions: Favors passage of a half-cent local option sales tax to support public transit, to provide “safe, reliable and affordable transportation choices.”

Is critical of officials’ handling of their dispute with Southern Durham Development Inc., saying “watershed boundaries should not be changed based on a developer’s plans.”

Darius Little

- Employment: Business consultant and part-time legal assistant

- Experience: First try for elective office

- Positions: Opposes passage of a half-cent local-option sales tax to support public transit “at the current moment,” because of the recession.

Believes “a bad precedent” was established when officials agreed to a zoning buffer change near Jordan Lake on the basis of a developer’s survey and would not allow private citizens to use their own surveyors to determine where the lake’s boundary should fall.

Sylvester Williams

- Employment: More than 25 years as an investment analyst with a local bank; minister

- Experience: First try for elective office

- Positions: Is not in favor of raising taxes during a recession, even to levy a half-cent local option sales tax to support transit.

Favors existing watershed restrictions around Jordan Lake but thinks the state should compensate Durham governments in return for their imposing tighter limits than the state requires.