Dare County Board of Elections appoints early-voting chiefs and poll workers, outlines training and equipment schedule

The Dare County Board of Elections on an early-September meeting approved a slate of early-voting officials for the Kill Devil Hills site, appointed a two-year replacement judge in Kitty Hawk and confirmed additional election-day assistants, and heard updates on new voting equipment, staff training and absentee and early-voting timelines.

The appointments followed guidance the board cited from Session Law 2023-140 (listed in the meeting as "SB 747") requiring counties to appoint chiefs and judges for early voting. Board members also asked staff to consult county legal counsel about the rules governing when the board may go into closed session.

Board Chair (name not specified), opening the agenda item on early-voting appointments, said the board would follow the state guidance and a "slate" method that designates specific individuals for some roles while naming a pool who may serve as judges or assistants on different days. The chair read the Kill Devil Hills slate into the record and asked for a motion to approve.

The board approved the Kill Devil Hills early-voting slate as read. The slate named Suzanne Nederlander as chief judge. The judges listed for the Kill Devil Hills early-voting site were Anne Loughner, Francis Griffin, Georgia Ellis, Glenn Tolbert, Wayne Berry and William Leach. Assistants named included Catherine Heath, Charles Lewis, Cynthia O'Neil, Frederick Jordan, Gail Sabato, Mike Ross, Wayne Berry (listed on the slate in both judge and assistant roles on different days), Lou Anne Tyre and Mary Hopp.

Separately, the board addressed a vacancy for a two-year Kitty Hawk judge term. The previously appointed judge, Stephen Leroy, declined the position; the Republican party submitted Michael Ross as the replacement and the board approved Ross to serve the two-year term beginning immediately and ending in August 2027.

The board also approved additional election-day assistants for the municipal election: Catherine Heath (Kitty Hawk); Melody Price, Frederick Jordan and Mary Hopp (Nags Head); and William Leach (Southern Shores).

Elections director report and equipment updates

Elections staff confirmed that sample ballots have been uploaded to the Dare County elections website. "Sample ballots have been uploaded to our website," the Elections Director (name not specified) said, and provided a link on the front page for voters to find the municipal sample ballot that applies to their municipality.

The director introduced new staff and said the county hired an election system specialist, Caroline Lindsey, who started the day before the meeting. The director reported the county received new voting equipment and that acceptance testing was conducted by the State Board of Elections and the vendor, ES&S (referred to in the meeting as ES and S Imprenelect), on Sept. 4. The director said staff completed a checklist matching serial numbers and verifying components and that the state will receive the test checklists.

Vendor-delivered staff training occurred Sept. 2 and Sept. 10: the first session covered the election management system workstation and the second session reviewed the ADA voting machine and the tabulator. The director said additional, more in-depth training will be offered to precinct officials during local training sessions.

Key dates and training

The board was given the precinct training schedule: a primary in-person training day for most municipalities runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (with an election-day session in the morning and early-voting training after lunch). One precinct (Duck) may attend a separate, shorter session; the director indicated that precinct’s training may be held on a different day or in January if that better fits schedules.

A mock election and L&A (logic and accuracy) testing will be held Sept. 26 at 10 a.m. in Room 168; the director said the county runs each machine, processes sample ballots, prints tapes, uploads results to the management system and uploads materials to the state. Campaign finance training for candidates will be held Sept. 24 in the same meeting room with a state representative conducting the session.

Absentee and early voting schedule

Staff said absentee ballots will be mailed and made available beginning Oct. 3. The voter-registration deadline for the municipal election is Oct. 10. Early voting begins Oct. 16. The county also noted that the statutory election notice is being published in the Coastland Times and posted at the courthouse beginning Sept. 17 through Oct. 8. The director said the first absentee board meeting originally scheduled for Sept. 30 was canceled because absentee ballots would not be available before Oct. 3; the board’s first absentee meeting is planned for Oct. 7 at 3 p.m.

Legal question and staff direction

A board member asked staff to consult with legal counsel about the rules that govern when the county board of elections may enter closed session, saying in part: "I would like to ask staff to consult with legal counsel to find out what exactly are the guidelines concerning going into...closed session." The chair agreed to have staff follow up with the county attorney.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to approve the agenda as presented — moved by Chair; seconded; approved by voice vote (no roll-call tally given). - Motion to approve the August meeting minutes as presented — moved by Chair; seconded; approved by voice vote (no roll-call tally given). - Motion to approve the Kill Devil Hills early-voting slate as read (named Suzanne Nederlander as chief judge; list of judges and assistants as read) — moved by Chair; seconded; approved by voice vote (no roll-call tally given). - Motion to appoint Michael Ross as Republican judge in Kitty Hawk to replace Stephen Leroy for a two-year term ending August 2027 — moved by Chair; seconded; approved by voice vote (no roll-call tally given). - Motion to approve the named election-day assistants for municipal election sites (Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, Southern Shores) — moved by Chair; seconded; approved by voice vote (no roll-call tally given). - Motion to adjourn — moved and seconded; approved.

The board noted that precinct-official attendance at training is helpful and encouraged board members to make at least a brief appearance to show support for poll workers. The meeting adjourned at 10:21 a.m.