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Dare County elections director reports list maintenance, software mandate and tighter post‑election deadlines
Summary
The elections director reported that the county completed VTD precinct sorting and removed about 3,000 inactive registrants; she warned the board that state and session-law changes compress post-election timelines, and said the county must upgrade election software to a newer workstation environment.
Kelly, director of the Dare County Board of Elections, told the board during its regular meeting that the office completed several post-election administrative tasks and warned members about state-mandated software and statutory changes that will compress post-election timelines and could require additional staff and budgeted equipment replacements.
“The Dare County Board of Elections successfully completed the VTD precinct sort on January 2, 2025,” Kelly said, describing the county’s process for grouping early-voting and absentee ballots by ballot style and later sorting them back into precincts for accurate voter-history reporting.
She said the office completed a biennial list-maintenance process under North Carolina General Statute 163‑82.14 and removed “approximately 3,000 registrants who have been inactive since August 10, 2022.” Kelly said the office also mailed about 2,700 confirmation (no-contact) cards to voters who had not had contact with the county’s registration system in the statutory period.
Why it matters: Kelly said an upcoming state software-certification requirement, changes in state law and pending court actions could alter certification timing, ballot handling and post‑election processing. Those shifts may require new equipment purchases, more staff time and procedural adjustments.
Key items from the director’s report - Software certification and workstation upgrade: Kelly said the county must upgrade at least to ElectionWare version 5240 (a workstation-level upgrade) because the version of Unity the county currently uses is being decertified. She said the county will participate in a state-led meeting of affected counties on Jan. 23 and that the upgrade can be carried out with grant funding, depending on state support. “We have to upgrade that software,” she said. - Voter‑list maintenance: Kelly said county staff removed roughly 3,000 registrations that met the statute’s removal criteria and sent about 2,700 confirmation mailings to voters with no recent contact. The mailings are postage-paid and provide voters a way to confirm or correct their registration. - Budget and equipment needs: The director said precinct laptops and attached printers used as electronic pollbooks and for ATV/printer functions are near end-of-life: “We’re looking at 28 laptops, 28 printers. So that’s a substantial cost…that could run into $30,000 or more to replace those,” Kelly said. She said she requested a quote from the county IT director and will present numbers for budget planning. - Staff and timing: Kelly said she intends to request a third full-time staff position to handle increased workload caused by compressed post-election duties and other new statutory duties. She also noted planned staff absences: “Rebecca’s gonna be out of the office from February 11th through 25th, and then, I’m planning to be off the 26th through 14th for, medical reasons.” - New law and deadlines: Kelly summarized Session Law 2024‑57 (Senate Bill 382) as requiring new board-appointment mechanics at the state level and compressing many post-election deadlines. She told the board that provisional ballots and absentee ballot cures must now be completed much sooner after election day, and that the county will likely need additional staffing to meet the shortened timelines. “All provisional ballots must be counted by 5 PM on the Friday after election day,” she said, summarizing the law’s effect on local processes. - Litigation: The State Board of Elections dismissed protests filed in the Jefferson Griffin contest, but Kelly said that litigation is being appealed and that the state supreme court has temporarily restrained the board from issuing a certification while the appeals proceed. County staff are monitoring the situation.
What the board will do next: Kelly asked members to plan a closed-session budget workshop after a Jan. 23 state meeting so the board can consider equipment purchases, possible grant funding, and a request for an additional staff position. She said she would supply additional cost estimates once she receives quotes from the county IT director and the vendor.
Ending: Board members praised Kelly for the office’s work handling the recent election and directed staff to continue preparing budget materials and grant inquiries; no formal budget decision was taken at the meeting.
