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Public commenter urges Harnett County to reconsider early voting sites and precinct consolidation
Summary
During public comment, Marge Miller urged the board to reconsider plans for five early-voting locations given an average ~12% primary turnout in recent comparable elections and asked the board to explain the reduction of precincts from 22 to 13 and address voter-population imbalances across precincts.
During public comment at the Jan. 8 meeting, Marge Miller of the Northwest Precinct asked the Board of Elections to reassess plans to staff five early-voting locations for the upcoming primary, citing an average turnout of about 12% in the last three comparable primaries in Harnett County and arguing the cost over 14–17 days was not justified by that turnout.
Miller also raised concerns about precinct-sizing equity. She said some precincts historically had fewer than 3,000 registered voters while others had more than 15,000 and asked the board to explain why precincts were reduced from 22 to 13 and whether rebalancing, rather than simply adding precincts back, would better serve voters. Miller asked the board to keep taxpayers in mind when planning locations and to consider voter wait times in larger precincts.
Miller emphasized the issue was not partisan and urged the board to explore the historical reasons for consolidating precincts and to consider whether readjusting precinct sizes would be more prudent than increasing the number of locations.
