Voting problems reported in North Carolina, but nothing ‘major’
Super Tuesday voters in several North Carolina counties reported problems at polling places, according to a nonpartisan group that runs an election hotline in the state, but only two problems required the State Board of Elections to step in.
At 6:45 p.m., the board met by telephone and agreed to extend voting at the Miller Park Community Center in Forsyth County until 8:10 p.m. because the precinct had run out of Democratic ballots for about 40 minutes during the day. Tim Tsujii, the county’s elections director, said an unspecified number of voters left the polling place rather than wait for ballots.
“We’re not certain as to how many people,” Tsujii told the state board.
Earlier in the evening, the board extended voting at the Snakebite polling place on Cow Track Road near Windsor for a half hour. A printer problem in the Bertie County precinct kept people from voting between 6:50 a.m. and 7:20 a.m., according to Katelyn Love, the state board’s general counsel. Two voters waited for the problem to be resolved, Love said, but six left without voting, prompting the county board of elections to ask the state board to extend voting in the precinct by a half hour.
A polling place in Onslow County had a similar problem with a printer early Tuesday, according to Board of Elections director Karen Brinson Bell, but Onslow officials did not ask for an extension of voting time. Bell said Onslow voters impacted by the printing problem were given provisional ballots, so there was no need to extend voting hours.
The two polling places were the only ones out of 2,670 statewide that planned to remain open beyond the 7:30 p.m. end of voting. The state waited to post election results until after all polling places were closed.
“Elections are a huge logistical undertaking,” board chairman Damon Circosta said in a written statement after the Snakebite decision. “And the fact that we’re here to discuss the extension of voting at just one of nearly 3,000 precincts is a testament to the amazing feat pulled off today by our county boards of elections and our poll workers. So far this has been a secure and accessible election.”
Elsewhere, Democracy North Carolina, which runs the Election Protection Hotline, said it had received about 330 calls and texts by 4 p.m., with voters reporting the Bertie and Onslow problems and issues with curbside voting for people with disabilities. But Tomas Lopez, director for the group, said the bulk of the calls were from people who needed help finding their polling place or confirming their voter registration.
Allison Riggs, the chief voting rights attorney for The Southern Coalition for Social Justice, a Durham-based nonprofit that works to “dismantle structural racism and oppression,” issued a statement late Tuesday praising election officials and volunteers across North Carolina.
“The problems reported were routine, and the quick response of election officials ensured that issues were generally resolved quickly,” Riggs said.
In Durham, a polling site at N.C. Central University’s Turner School of Law reportedly turned away several voters who were told they were in the wrong precinct, said Sailor Jones, Democracy North Carolina’s campaign director.
Derek Bowens, the elections director for Durham County, disputed that report. He said voters who showed up at the polling site who were not assigned to that precinct were “offered a provisional ballot but encouraged to go to their precincts.”
“We’ve had no complaints, things here have been going very smoothly,” Bowens said of the county.
In Roanoke Rapids, “issues with curbside voting meant disabled voters had to attempt to make their way inside to vote,” according to Democracy North Carolina. Kristin Scott, Halifax County’s elections director, said she was unaware of any issues Tuesday afternoon and said she would check the city’s precincts.
In an interview, Lopez said the hotline hears about issues with curbside voting every year, mostly about signage and accessibility of the curbside voting sites.
There are thousands of polling sites in North Carolina, Lopez said, and in most places the election was running smoothly.
Brinson also said the primary election — the first in decades in which all voters were casting paper ballots — was going well overall.
“We are unaware of any major incidents affecting North Carolina,” she said.
Patrick Gannon, spokesman for the state Board of Elections, said the board was looking into reports of problems.
“We’re checking into these reports and, as always, attempting to ensure that all poll workers are providing accurate information to voters,” he said.
Lopez said that with the issues his staff heard about, county officials have been responsive. “The issues are getting addressed,” he said.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 10:59 AM with the headline "Voting problems reported in North Carolina, but nothing ‘major’."
