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Board approves municipal early-voting plan, staff reports filings and poll-worker nominations
Summary
The Buncombe County Board of Elections unanimously approved a staff proposal for the municipal early-voting schedule, heard an update that 17 candidates filed for municipal offices in Weaverville and Woodfin, and received precinct judge nomination totals: 330 Democrats, 90 Republicans.
BUNCOMBE COUNTY — The Buncombe County Board of Elections unanimously approved a staff-proposed early-voting schedule for the 2025 municipal elections and heard related operational updates on candidate filings and poll-worker nominations.
Elections staff member Maggie presented the proposed municipal early-voting plan and explained the legal requirements for odd-year municipal elections. Under state parameters for odd-year municipal contests, the board must provide at least one early-voting in-lieu site that is open during normal business hours; Maggie proposed the in-lieu site in downtown and recommended Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. hours at the elections warehouse for the two-and-a-half-week early-voting period. The town of Weaverville requested an additional site to be open on the last Saturday of early voting; staff proposed opening the Weaverville Community Center from 8 a.m.–3 p.m. on that final Saturday to meet that request.
"The Board of Elections office, or in-lieu site, must be open during normal business hours, Monday through Friday at minimum," Maggie said while outlining the plan. Board members discussed turnout expectations and the economics of providing additional sites; staff said municipal turnout historically concentrates on election day in these jurisdictions, so the proposal meets minimum statutory requirements while adding the requested Saturday Weaverville location.
Board member motioned and seconded approval of the staff plan; the board approved the early-voting schedule by unanimous voice vote.
Staff also reported candidate-filing and poll-worker nomination numbers. Corinne Duncan said candidate filing for municipal races was complete and that staff received 17 filings across Weaverville mayor, Weaverville town council, Woodfin town council, and Woodfin water and sewer races. On poll-worker nominations, Duncan reported that Republican party chairs submitted 90 names while Democratic chairs submitted 330 names; the board discussed parity among party appointments and asked staff to circulate the party-nomination lists in advance of the board’s appointment vote on the nineteenth.
Duncan also provided a voter-registration snapshot for the county: 209,620 registered voters total, with 71,356 registered Democrats, 44,632 registered Republicans and 91,092 unaffiliated voters.
Ending: Staff said it will return with a fuller early-voting presentation for the primary at an August meeting and will post a public input period before the board takes final action on any expanded early-voting plan. The municipal early-voting schedule approved at this meeting will be posted and implemented for the upcoming municipal election.
