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Board of Elections reviews final election logistics, explains ballot types and voter guidance ahead of March 3 primary
Summary
Buncombe County elections staff reminded voters about March 3 voting rules, reported early-voting totals, explained a plan to monitor warehouse operations remotely on election night, and recommended post-election review of requests for wider use of hand-marked ballots.
Corinne Duncan, the executive director of the Buncombe County Board of Elections, told the board the office is "one week from election day" and reminded voters that the March 3 primary requires a photo ID and that they must vote at their assigned voting location. She said the office mailed notification cards to voters affected by eight polling-location changes and urged voters to use the voter-information tool on the elections website to find sample ballots and polling places.
Duncan reported early-voting turnout of "over 14,000" voters so far (14,303 counted before the meeting) and said all of the early-voting sites opened on schedule despite cold weather. She described typical primary turnout patterns and suggested earlier early-voting days if voters want to avoid Saturday crowds.
On election-night operations, Duncan said recent law changes make it harder for the board to travel to the warehouse and proposed using a remote monitor and staff check-ins so board members can follow arrivals and precinct reporting without sending multiple members to the warehouse. She outlined the timeline for post-election processing, including an absentee meeting at 7:30 a.m. for ballots arriving after earlier sessions, printing early-vote machine results and collecting/uploading flash drives from polling locations, and noted that a quorum of the board will be required to oversee absentee and early-vote results.
The board discussed a recent local incident in Black Mountain where a voter requested a hand-marked ballot during early voting. Duncan explained the county selected ExpressVote machines for early voting and that curbside voters receive preprinted hand-marked ballots for accessibility reasons. "Everything is a paper ballot. North Carolina requires that paper ballot," she said, and added that the state board confirmed offering hand-marked ballots universally is not required where ExpressVote is used. She warned that offering both methods broadly would require preprinting ballots, extra poll-worker steps and would increase cost and complexity, and recommended any change be considered after the election.
The board was directed to follow up on several operational items in post-election meetings, including the statutorily required pre-election sessions on the Monday before the election and the process for audit and provisional ballots. The next steps noted were continued monitoring of early-voting numbers, on-the-day check-ins for warehouse reporting, and a post-election review of any policy changes about ballot methods.
