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Tuesday, August 26, 2008 10:43 AM Dems push for 3rd site By Matt Shaw | Times Staff Writer Wilson Democrats are pushing to have the Board of Elections expand early voting to Sundays and opening a third location, preferably in an area with predominantly black voters. The board agreed Monday to add another Saturday to the One-Stop schedule but not make the other changes, prompting a response from one prominent local Democrat. "What was the Help America Vote Act intended to do?" Betty Ray McCain asked the board. "Are you insinuating that we're not helping people vote?" board member Russ Britt said. The county board has worked in a bipartisan manner to expand One-Stop to a second location this year, Britt said. It had also already added Saturday hours. McCain replied, "We are trying to help people who have trouble voting at the regular time." Many working people cannot go to a One-Stop site during ordinary business hours, she said. She noted that the board has eliminated after-hours voting that was offered in 2004. Wilson Republicans are satisfied with the One-Stop schedule approved by the board in July, county GOP chairman Buck Newton said. State and local elections officials expect record turnout for this fall's presidential, state and local elections. The county's voter rolls recently went over 50,000; well over 30,000 are expected to vote, more than 10,000 of them during the early One-Stop period. The Board of Elections agreed in July to open a second early voting site -- at the county's Miller Road office building. Chairman Ed Wyatt explained Monday that location meets the board's needs -- a government building that won't require rent, a voting room that can be secured, good access for the disabled and plenty of parking. The location will also be convenient to citizens conducting county business or who are paying bills at the nearby Time Warner Cable facility, Wyatt said. "We needed a safe, secure location where we can ensure the integrity of the election," Britt added. But McCain, a longtime Democrat activist and former N.C. secretary of cultural resources, pointed out that the building is not served by city buses, making it hard for people without transportation to get there. "There's no way to walk there unless you want to get run over," McCain said. She asked for a third site and Sunday voting, requests that were seconded by Wilson County Democratic Party Chairman Chris Boykin. Board member Donna Simms said she understands Democrats want the Reid Street Community Center added as a One-Stop site. The board did look at the location and other sites, she said. However, members felt it wasn't as secure a location as the Miller Road building, due to the numerous evening activities and other events held at the center. The Miller Road decision was made in a nonpartisan way, said Britt, the board's only Republican, and he didn't think it should be revisited to satisfy one party or the other. "We need to be referees in the ballgame. We don't need to be in any coach's pocket," he said. As for Sunday voting, Elections Director Ann Cone told the board that her staff typically works on Sundays during the weeks before the election, keeping up with the required paperwork. Allowing voting that day wouldn't give them any downtime to catch up, plus it would be a burden on pollworkers, she said. The board had originally planned to have two Saturdays of early voting, up from one in 2004, but members agreed unanimously Monday to add a third. The change has to be approved by the State Board of Elections and the U.S. Department of Justice before it goes into effect. One-stop, no excuse, early voting has been offered across North Carolina since the 2000 elections. Around 2,880 Wilson County residents voted early in that first election, but by 2004, the number grew to about 10,200. More than 5,000 early ballots were cast here in the May primary elections. Prior to 2000, only voters who had plans to be out of town on Election Day were allowed to vote via mail-in absentee ballots. Mail-in ballots are still available, but a voter no longer has to offer a reason for voting that way. mshaw@wilsontimes.com | 265-7878 ============================================================ One-Stop Voting Sites ONE-STOP VOTING starts at noon Thursday, Oct. 16, and ends at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1. Wilson County is planning, pending state and federal approval, to have two sites: Board of Elections office, 112 E. Douglas St. -- Operating noon-5 p.m. Oct. 16, then 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays through Oct. 31. Also, offering Saturday voting, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 18 and 25, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Nov. 1. Wilson County Miller Road Office Building -- Operating noon-5 p.m. Oct. 16, then 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays through Oct. 31. No weekend voting is now scheduled. |
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