Harnett County elections staff approve move to Alexander Drive facility to consolidate operations

The Harnett County Board of Elections voted to relocate its offices and election storage to the county’s Alexander Drive facility, a move staff said will place administrative offices and equipment under one roof and remove the need to travel to an offsite warehouse.

Board members and staff said the new facility offers larger office space, on-site storage and alarmed areas, but they raised concerns about shared conference rooms and general building traffic and asked that secured rooms and badge access be used for election equipment and ballots.

“We have an obligation of maintaining chain of custody on everything that we do,” board member Robert Beck said during the discussion, noting that open corridors and shared spaces complicate security and evidence of custody.…