The Harnett County Board of Commissioners approved two elections measures during its Dec. 16 meeting: creation of an additional election specialist position and purchase of a ballot‑on‑demand system.

Elections staff identified during the meeting (Miss Jones) said the county’s registered‑voter population has grown by more than 10% in two years, increasing workload for voter registration, absentee processing and voter‑ID production. The newly appointed Board of Elections recommended adding an election specialist; staff told the commission that lapsed salary savings and temporary vacancies would cover the prorated cost for the remainder of the fiscal year and no additional appropriation is required for the remainder of the year. A motion to add the position passed by voice vote.

Miss Jones also presented a ballot‑on‑demand system proposal from PrintElect intended to print each voter’s exact ballot at check‑in, reducing preprinted ballot waste and the logistics of managing many ballot styles across sites. The quoted upfront cost was $83,700 with annual maintenance of roughly $14,000; staff said about $50,000 in contingency funds were available as a ballpark figure and that additional funding would come from the fund balance as needed. Miss Jones noted that 47 counties already use ballot‑on‑demand, and staff cautioned that printing or encoding errors that might force a new election can exceed $200,000.

Commissioners discussed printer counts (the quote discussed ~20 printers for early‑voting coverage), staffing implications, and the intent to deploy the printers primarily for early voting (staff reported about 70% of voters used early voting in the last cycle). A motion to approve the purchase “as presented” was moved and carried by voice vote.

Why it matters: The staffing addition aims to preserve election administration capacity amid voter growth. The ballot‑on‑demand purchase represents a technological shift intended to reduce waste and errors during early voting, but it requires initial fund balance use and ongoing maintenance funding.

What happens next: Elections staff will proceed with purchase and onboarding to be operational for early voting and the primary cycle timeline cited by staff (early voting in February, primary in March).