Reprinted from Wilkes Journal Patriot - story by Jule Hubbard - Aug 3rd, 2018
The Wilkes County Board of Elections has decided to provide two satellite one-stop, early voting sites in the county this fall after opting for four satellite sites for the general elections in 2016 and 2014 and three in 2010.
The four-member board on Tuesday morning approved a one-stop, early voting plan with satellite sites at the Pleasant Hill and Millers Creek fire stations for this year’s non-presidential general election. The plan now goes to the N.C. Board of Elections for approval.
The Millers Creek Fire Station by far has had the largest one-stop, early voting turnout in the past, while the Pleasant Hill and Mulberry-Fairplains fire stations have ranked second with similar turnouts. Wilkes Board of Elections Director Kim Caudill said the Millers Creek and Pleasant Hill fire stations were also chosen because Millers Creek is in the western end of Wilkes and Pleasant Hill is in the eastern end.
The Mountain View Ruritan Club building was also a satellite site in 2016 and 2014.
The two satellite sites are in addition to a required site at a central location, which for Wilkes is the county commissioners’ meeting room on the first floor of the Wilkes County Office Building in Wilkesboro.
Voter turnout in 2014 (the last non-presidential general election) included Millers Creek Fire Station, 745; Mulberry-Fairplains Fire Station, 377; Pleasant Hill Fire Station, 334; and Mountain View Ruritan Club building, 198. The total at the Wilkes County Office Building in 2014 was 3,582.
Under a state law enacted earlier this year, each county must provide one-stop, early voting at a central location for 13 weekdays from Oct. 17 through Nov. 2, plus Saturday, Nov. 3. Weekdays hours at this one mandatory site per county must be either 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. or 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Wilkes Board of Elections opted to have weekday hours in the county commissioners’ meeting room on the first floor of the Wilkes County Office Building be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 17 to Nov. 2.
Counties have the option of providing as many one-stop, early voting satellite sites as they wish—or none. If they do provide satellite sites, they must open all 13 weekdays (Oct. 17 through Nov. 2), with weekday hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The law requires being open at least from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3, with an option to extend hours until 5 p.m. Hours for the four Wilkes sites on Nov. 3 will be 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Having to be open all 13 weekdays and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. greatly increased the cost of satellite sites for counties that opt to provide them. In the last three general elections, Wilkes County’s three or four satellite sites were only open four or five days and had considerably shorter hours each day.
Wilkes Board of Elections Chairman Tim Joines asked Caudill about her level of comfort with the plan approved at the meeting.
“I feel pretty good about it. I believe we can handle it, particularly since it isn’t a presidential year,” she responded.
Board member Garland Hill asked Caudill if she believed enough backup workers had been secured for one-stop, early voting and Caudill answered affirmatively. Hill then made a motion to approve the plan and his motion was unanimously approved.
Caudill said the board considered the increased cost of satellite sites and past voter turnout in deciding how many satellite sites to provide. She said it had been hard for Wilkes Board of Election staff to find enough people to man satellite sites due to the additional days and longer hours.
Caudill said the county’s costs for one-stop, early voting costs this year would include a little over $6,000 per satellite site, compared to about $1,300 per satellite site last year due to the additional and longer days. She said the Wilkes Board of Elections should still have enough money in its budget to cover this.
She said 15-16 people have been signed up to work at satellite sites this year, which she said is enough for three to four people per site at any given time under the approved plan.
Fulltime Wilkes Board of Elections staff and regular poll workers would man the site in the county commissioners’ meeting room, with two to three workers there most of the time and more in busier periods, Caudill added.
The plan calls for poll workers secured for the satellite site in Millers Creek to work in two shifts, with one group working on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday and another group working on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
At the satellite site in Pleasant Hill, the plan calls for some people to work only half days and others to work full days.
Caudill said there may be “floaters” available to work on an as-needed basis at both sites.
Wilkes Board of Elections member Lynn Day asked Caudill if the same one-stop, early voting plan would be used for the presidential election in 2020.
Caudill said that depended on whether the legislature made more changes in state election laws. “It’s always subject to change,” she added.
Some critics of the new law requiring that all satellite sites be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. all 13 weekdays Oct. 17 to Nov. 2 if a county opted to provide satellite sites have said this was done to reduce voter turnout.
Legislators who supported the new law said the goal was ensuring uniformity to avoid confusion they said has occurred when satellite sites within a single county had differing hours. Satellite sites in Wilkes have all had the same hours in the past.
In addition to the one-stop, early voting dates in the plan approved Tuesday, key voter dates for this year’s election include:
The four-member board on Tuesday morning approved a one-stop, early voting plan with satellite sites at the Pleasant Hill and Millers Creek fire stations for this year’s non-presidential general election. The plan now goes to the N.C. Board of Elections for approval.
The Millers Creek Fire Station by far has had the largest one-stop, early voting turnout in the past, while the Pleasant Hill and Mulberry-Fairplains fire stations have ranked second with similar turnouts. Wilkes Board of Elections Director Kim Caudill said the Millers Creek and Pleasant Hill fire stations were also chosen because Millers Creek is in the western end of Wilkes and Pleasant Hill is in the eastern end.
The Mountain View Ruritan Club building was also a satellite site in 2016 and 2014.
The two satellite sites are in addition to a required site at a central location, which for Wilkes is the county commissioners’ meeting room on the first floor of the Wilkes County Office Building in Wilkesboro.
Voter turnout in 2014 (the last non-presidential general election) included Millers Creek Fire Station, 745; Mulberry-Fairplains Fire Station, 377; Pleasant Hill Fire Station, 334; and Mountain View Ruritan Club building, 198. The total at the Wilkes County Office Building in 2014 was 3,582.
Under a state law enacted earlier this year, each county must provide one-stop, early voting at a central location for 13 weekdays from Oct. 17 through Nov. 2, plus Saturday, Nov. 3. Weekdays hours at this one mandatory site per county must be either 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. or 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Wilkes Board of Elections opted to have weekday hours in the county commissioners’ meeting room on the first floor of the Wilkes County Office Building be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 17 to Nov. 2.
Counties have the option of providing as many one-stop, early voting satellite sites as they wish—or none. If they do provide satellite sites, they must open all 13 weekdays (Oct. 17 through Nov. 2), with weekday hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The law requires being open at least from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3, with an option to extend hours until 5 p.m. Hours for the four Wilkes sites on Nov. 3 will be 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Having to be open all 13 weekdays and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. greatly increased the cost of satellite sites for counties that opt to provide them. In the last three general elections, Wilkes County’s three or four satellite sites were only open four or five days and had considerably shorter hours each day.
Wilkes Board of Elections Chairman Tim Joines asked Caudill about her level of comfort with the plan approved at the meeting.
“I feel pretty good about it. I believe we can handle it, particularly since it isn’t a presidential year,” she responded.
Board member Garland Hill asked Caudill if she believed enough backup workers had been secured for one-stop, early voting and Caudill answered affirmatively. Hill then made a motion to approve the plan and his motion was unanimously approved.
Caudill said the board considered the increased cost of satellite sites and past voter turnout in deciding how many satellite sites to provide. She said it had been hard for Wilkes Board of Election staff to find enough people to man satellite sites due to the additional days and longer hours.
Caudill said the county’s costs for one-stop, early voting costs this year would include a little over $6,000 per satellite site, compared to about $1,300 per satellite site last year due to the additional and longer days. She said the Wilkes Board of Elections should still have enough money in its budget to cover this.
She said 15-16 people have been signed up to work at satellite sites this year, which she said is enough for three to four people per site at any given time under the approved plan.
Fulltime Wilkes Board of Elections staff and regular poll workers would man the site in the county commissioners’ meeting room, with two to three workers there most of the time and more in busier periods, Caudill added.
The plan calls for poll workers secured for the satellite site in Millers Creek to work in two shifts, with one group working on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday and another group working on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
At the satellite site in Pleasant Hill, the plan calls for some people to work only half days and others to work full days.
Caudill said there may be “floaters” available to work on an as-needed basis at both sites.
Wilkes Board of Elections member Lynn Day asked Caudill if the same one-stop, early voting plan would be used for the presidential election in 2020.
Caudill said that depended on whether the legislature made more changes in state election laws. “It’s always subject to change,” she added.
Some critics of the new law requiring that all satellite sites be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. all 13 weekdays Oct. 17 to Nov. 2 if a county opted to provide satellite sites have said this was done to reduce voter turnout.
Legislators who supported the new law said the goal was ensuring uniformity to avoid confusion they said has occurred when satellite sites within a single county had differing hours. Satellite sites in Wilkes have all had the same hours in the past.
In addition to the one-stop, early voting dates in the plan approved Tuesday, key voter dates for this year’s election include:
- Sept. 7, first day voters can be mailed an absentee ballot. These are available from the Wilkes Board of Elections;
- Oct. 12, voter registration forms for voting on Nov. 6 (election day) due by 5 p.m. at Wilkes Board of Elections;
- Oct. 30, last day to request an absentee ballot by mail;
- Nov. 5, last day for a military/overseas absentee ballot request;
- Nov. 6, Election Day;
- Nov. 9, last day to turn in absentee ballots by mail (must be postmarked by Election Day);
- Nov. 15, last day to receive military/overseas absentee ballots (mailed).