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Harnett officials weigh removing early-voting sites from schools over safety, disruption concerns
Summary
Sheriff, school board and commissioners told the Board of Elections that using schools for multiday early voting creates safety and instructional disruptions; Board of Elections will place the issue on its next agenda and may form a three-board committee to seek alternatives.
Members of Harnett County’s Board of Elections, Board of Education and Board of Commissioners held a joint meeting Aug. 26 to discuss concerns about early voting in public school facilities and whether some early-voting sites should be moved.
The Board of Elections convened the meeting to “reach a determination if there are any problems associated with early voting ... in our public schools,” Board of Elections Chair Moody said at the start of the session.
The discussion centered on two recurring concerns from school leaders and law enforcement: increased safety risk when the public mixes with students during school hours, and loss of instructional time when gyms and classrooms are used for early voting over multiple days.
Sheriff Wayne Coates told the three boards that logistics at Western Harnett High School create a “nightmare” scenario where carpool lines, buses and voters converge, and said law enforcement has only limited capacity to secure school…
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