Irwin County election board discusses adding two appointed members and other charter edits

The Irwin County Board of Elections and Registrations discussed proposed amendments to its enabling legislation at a meeting March 11, with Representative Wyatt Thompson proposing the addition of two members appointed by the Irwin County Commission and Supervisor Ethan Compton outlining a path for the changes to become state law.

Thompson asked the board to consider expanding membership and tightening some qualifications; Compton explained that any local change would require majority approval by the board, a county commission resolution, referral to the county’s state legislative delegation, passage by the General Assembly and the governor’s signature before the change could take effect. Compton said the effective date would be set during drafting and could be either July 1, 2026, or Jan. 1, 2027, depending on how the legislation is written.

Under Thompson’s proposal, two additional members would be appointed by the county commission in the same fashion as the chair. Compton said the change would add about $1,524 a year in salaries and could reduce the chance of missed meetings by increasing the quorum requirement to three of five members rather than two of three. He noted that failure to establish a quorum has been exceedingly rare for this board, occurring once in January 2023 because of illness.

Compton also proposed several housekeeping and clarifying edits to the charter: removing transitional text that applied only from 2014–15, changing the word “biennium” to “term” in Section 3 (or alternatively specifying fixed two-year terms from Jan. 1 of odd-numbered years through Dec. 31 of even-numbered years to decouple board terms from any future change to General Assembly terms), and striking obsolete provisions such as Section 14. Thompson said he prefers decoupling while retaining two-year terms and also suggested considering a longer residency requirement and revising minimum-meeting language that currently mentions both monthly meetings and a three-meeting annual minimum.

Compton reported that members of the Irwin County Commission had indicated awareness or support for the proposed changes: he said Chairman Hutchinson and Commissioner Tyson had communicated directly and that Commissioners Paulk and McIntyre were aware and in accord; he said he had no information about Commissioner Hickey’s view. Chairman Waymond Harris urged members to read the full proposed draft and deferred substantive action until a future meeting after members have had time to form opinions, saying he was willing to consider suggestions though he felt no immediate changes were required.

Next steps outlined in the discussion called for the board to finish consideration by its November meeting so the County Commission could act in December and the county’s legislative delegation could present the matter to the 2026 General Assembly session. No motion to amend the charter was taken at this meeting.