Harnett County elections board debates long-term plan for early voting sites amid public concern about cost and access

Harnett County Board of Elections members on Tuesday discussed a proposed two-year plan for early voting locations that would prioritize sites outside occupied schools and heard public commenters urge that any site changes be treated as long-term decisions.

Rebecca Brock, a Northwest Harnett resident, told the board, "Please think of this being long term choices and not just during this 2 year term." She asked the board to ensure any replacement sites accommodate easy access for voters, functional curbside voting, large voter volumes, adequate parking and ADA compliance, and to advertise any changes widely.

Brock also opposed paying private locations to host early voting, saying, "We've had no costs associated to holding early voting in schools. And I'm against paying for any private location to be an early voting location because it increases the election budget." She asked about how the county board will work with Dallas Woodhouse, identified in public comments as the state's county election board liaison.

Another public commenter, Tony Spears, criticized proposed spending and urged the board to prioritize basic supplies such as polling signs. "Come in here from the last time and ask for this thousand dollars, I don't know what lifestyle you got, but that's kinda rough to go from $2.50 to a thousand," Spears said, and asked the board to inspect polling sites to identify where funds could buy equipment or additional signs.

Elections staff reported operational details and constraints. The elections director said the only voting site currently open was the Erwin satellite site and that, as of a 4 p.m. update, "they had 62 voters and 1 provisional." The director said no absentee ballots had been returned by the meeting time but noted that "per the new state law, we do have to accept ballots that come in up until 7:30 tonight," and the board recessed to the elections office to reconvene at 7:30 p.m. in case any arrived.

Staff described site requirements they are using when searching for non-school venues: ADA accessibility, curbside voting capability, parking and the ability to handle a high-volume turnout. The director said the county currently has four early voting sites and hopes to reach six but is still searching for a site in Angier; without a non-school option there the county may need to keep that school location. The director also warned that some churches and community sites are hard to secure for the multiweek early voting period because of existing weekend activities.

Board members and commenters raised conflict-of-interest concerns about locating early voting at properties owned by elected officials, county employees or board members. A board member suggested avoiding any site that would place county funds into the hands of politicians, county staff or their businesses.

The discussion included operational context: curbside voting requirements, staffing needs (three chief judges and assistants for party balance), and the scale of early voting, with staff noting that in the 2024 presidential contest "just over 73% of voters voted early" in the county. Several speakers said that high early-vote turnout makes stable, long-term site choices essential.

The board approved minutes from a prior meeting before the site discussion and recessed to the elections office to accept any late-returned absentee ballots by the statutory 7:30 p.m. deadline.

No formal change to the county's early voting site plan was adopted at the meeting. Staff said they plan to present a draft implementation plan for the board to review ahead of a Dec. 1 presentation and that if the board does not reach a unanimous decision the matter could go to the State Board for review.